


you had me at lollipop

by beeswaxing



Category: Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Designer Xiao Zhan, Fade to Black, Famous Wang Yi Bo, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Rating May Change, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:13:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 43,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeswaxing/pseuds/beeswaxing
Summary: Xiao Zhan is 30 and according to his mother, well past due for a serious relationship. She has given him countless opportunities to bring home his own choice of partner whether male or female but after nearly a decade out of university and now CEO of his own extremely successful graphics design company, Xiao Zhan has yet to bring home a single person despite her constant nagging at their monthly dinners. Out of desperation, she engages Madam Kim-Jung, a well known match-maker with an impressively high success rate across East Asia who disappointingly, provides her with only one match, citing certain irregularities. Extremely skeptical at the match but willing to try anything, she invites Wang Yibo to their next monthly dinner, unaware that her son already has a history with the man.
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan
Comments: 107
Kudos: 792
Collections: BJYX Prompt Fest 2020





	1. It's not a yes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fyredancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyredancer/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [fyredancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyredancer/pseuds/fyredancer) in the [bjyx_fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjyx_fest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Xiao Zhan's mom has had it! Her son is thirty, beautiful, a successful CEO of a highly sought after graphic design company, and shows absolutely no interest in pursuing any kind of serious relationship or settling down and having a family. She knows her boy, she does know he wants a partner and a family and kids, he just won't make the time to lay the groundwork. And she badly wants grandkids to spoil and even help raise.
> 
> She pays top dollar for the best matchmaker in the business, results guaranteed.
> 
> Xiao Zhan isn't really too shocked that his next dinner with his parents is an arranged marriage match. He kind of saw it coming.
> 
> He's just surprised that his "guaranteed" match is successful model and motorcyclist Wang Yibo, who he's already tried to date and been brushed off three times.
> 
> AU where they're both successful and moderately famous, just not idol famous, and gay matches and marriage are acceptable. Whoever tops, or switching, is great by me.
> 
> Do not want: non-con, violence, unhappy ending, any character death, no bittersweet or ambiguous ending, no names but their proper names.

Xiao Zhan figures he should get used to this as he considers his glass of champagne and resolutely reminds himself to take sips only and not chug the whole bloody thing like he did on his graduation night. The giant blur of that evening still brings him twinges of anxiety for he had blacked out to the point where he still cannot remember anything from that night. Of course, he’d had more than one glass of champagne but that’s beside the point. 

“Laoban? They’re looking for you.” The voice is vaguely amused and the honorific is more akin to an endearment.

He sighs and turns to look at his date and silent shareholder of his design company. Meng Ziyi had been with him since the very start when he took a chance and decided to go at it alone straight out of university. With more money then she knew what to do with, she had convinced her parents to invest in their start-up, an amount he had managed to repay within their first year of doing business. 

In fact, his graphic design part of the business contributes to more than eighty percent of their revenue. Ziyi on the other hand is quite happy to take on general design projects as and when she feels like it rather than as a form of on-going revenue, and as long as she at least breaks even each financial year, Xiao Zhan has no issue with her maintaining her side of her business however she wants. The company is now split 90-10 anyway with him as CEO, Ziyi having sold her controlling shares to him a long time ago.

However her role as the front of the company is what makes her invaluable. Beautiful and effortlessly poised, she _looks_ like she ought to be fronting a fashion design house rather than being a silent shareholder to a graphic design company. In their circles, his company is fondly (and sometimes derogatorily) referred to as the Dollhouse because of them. 

Barbie and Ken.

Meng Ziyi and Xiao Zhan.

It would have been a match made in heaven if she wasn’t already married and they both weren’t gay.

—

“If I knew this was going to be a testosterone fuelled event I would have left you to it,” she grumbles, resisting the urge to stick her fingers in her ears. 

“Do I look like the type who likes motorbikes?” Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes, acting for all he’s worth as he lies through his teeth.

Yeah, but they’re guys.” She laughs lightly and pats his cheek. “Ah, laoban, when are we double dating? Lulu keeps asking me if she can set you up and I can only say no to her so many times.”

“I’m too busy.” His standard answer.

“Too busy pining you mean? It’s been what, almost a year now? He’s not even in the same country, ya…” she shakes her head. “You’re hopeless.”

Xiao Zhan wrinkles his nose, refusing to answer. He regrets even telling Ziyi about it, but really, he’d been absolutely floored on that mountaintop in New Zealand. He’d been travelling with a group of his ex college-mates on a long overdue skiing trip, Ziyi and wife included. Being the only one seemingly incapable of using both skis and snowboard, he had been lovingly, kindly, but firmly asked to rest for the remaining two hours of snow time while his friends enjoyed themselves without having to worry about him falling over and cracking his skull open. 

The man had walked in with a large group but dressed all in white, he had stood out like a beacon in addition to the fact that he was the first Asian he had seen all afternoon apart from his friends. Laughing easily, his cheeks tinged red from the wind and cold, Xiao Zhan was already captivated at the easy way he smiled, how his angular cheeks inflated with his smile till he looks like an adorable marshmallow, matching his white outfit completely.

Then he pulls out a Chupa Chup that seemed to be ubiquitous in New Zealand. Every single convenience store counter had it. Checkouts at the supermarket had it. You could buy the candy in packs of eight or more basically anywhere. Xiao Zhan is so familiar with it now having been in the country for almost two weeks he was even able to identify the flavour from the wrapper.

Watermelon.

Seated tucked away in the corner, Xiao Zhan had stared at him for over an hour trying to work up the courage to go up to him. Naturally shy and a little self conscious about his English, he had watched the young man suck through two lollipops before he _finally_ decided it’s do or die when the man got up and said his goodbyes to his group of friends.

Exiting the cafe hurriedly after him, Xiao Zhan had been aghast to find the man stripping in the parking lot.

—

_“What are you doing?” He blurts out, speaking before he thinks, eyes agog, staring at the blond looking at him as if he’s crazy. He probably is crazy. He feels a little crazy. His throat is dry from how broad the man is and he manages a glare for the white snowsuit for obscuring his view of this._

_“What does it look like I’m doing?”_

_His voice is low, warm, and managing to sound both amused and irritated at the same time. Xiao Zhan had to resist the urge to let out a very undignified squeak at the sound._

_“Uh…stripping.”_

_“Ding ding ding, the tourist gets it right.”_

_“Can you…can you uh, speak Mandarin by any chance?”_

_“Ding ding ding, the tourist gets it right,” he deadpans in Mandarin._

_Xiao Zhan laughs, feeling warm. “How do you know I’m a tourist?”_

_He shrugs. “Lucky guess. Plus you were drinking iced coffee. Hardly anyone drinks iced coffees around here.”_

_“You noticed?”_

_The man tilts his head, giving him an odd look. “I was seated near the counter and you ordered three coffees. How are you not bouncing around?”_

_“Ah…I don’t know.” He tries to change the subject. “You ski?”_

_“Snowboard. You?”_

_The man doesn’t stop stripping while he speaks and Xiao Zhan finally realises he is switching out of his snow clothes for…bike clothes?_

_“Neither. My friends told me to stay out of trouble,” Xiao Zhan admits sheepishly._

_“Ah, too bad. The slopes are pretty wild this year.”_

_“This year? You live here?”_

_The blond narrows his eyes at the other man after he finishes packing his clothes and climbs astride the motorbike. “You know, I think I’ve said too much. My mother did tell me not to talk to strangers.”_

_“But I’m trying not to be a stranger,” Xiao Zhan hurriedly points out but it is too late. He watches crestfallen as the man dons his helmet and starts his bike._

_In a few seconds, he is left eating the dust of a very sleek bike, standing alone in the middle of a crowded parking lot with nothing to show for it._

_He didn’t even get a name._

—

“Earth to Xiao Laoshi. The race is over and our client’s team won. He wants to head to the pits. You wanna come or shall I leave you here with your day-dreaming?”

“I’m coming.”

“That’s what she said,” Ziyi snickers and Xiao Zhan’s jaw drops and he elbows her. 

“For shame. You’re a lady.”

“No, I’m the tramp. Lulu is the lady and don’t you forget that,” she replies airily. Her large doe eyes are bright with humour and affection.

—

The shock of recognition is so strong Xiao Zhan nearly drops to his knees when the race winner takes off his helmet.

No longer blond.

But he will recognise that face anywhere.

The smiling young man is no longer smiling. Brooding might be a better word for it. There is a dangerous air about him now and Xiao Zhan stays on the periphery once again, watching. 

He doesn’t smile, not even for his sponsors. 

What he does is pull on a pair of mirrored shades and let people mingle around him.

He doesn’t engage with anyone except his team.

There is a heavy feeling in Xiao Zhan’s gut as he watches. Ziyi has left his side to mingle, for which he is thankful because his face is a bit of an open book and for someone who has known him for as long as she has, she would put two and two together immediately.

It is such a 180 degree change from the man he met less than a year ago that Xiao Zhan is seriously considering that it isn’t the same person.

That is until he sees a familiar lollipop handed to him.

Watermelon.

“Oh god,” he groans quietly, staring unashamedly as the man peels off the green and red wrapper with practiced ease, popping it into his mouth and parking it in his cheek just like he did in that no-name cafe in New Zealand.

“Laoban, your drool is collecting.”

Xiao Zhan’s unhinged jaw snaps shut. He wasn’t even aware he was gaping.

“Handsome isn’t he?

He makes a non-committal sound. Well, at least he tries. It ends up strangled in his throat.

“This is his first race and he won. You’d think he’d be more pleased about it, no?” The breath Xiao Zhan expels at her words is forceful and Ziyi takes a step back with a surprised laugh before patting her friend’s shoulder. “Shall I try and get us an introduction?”

“N-no. Just leave it. He doesn’t talk to strangers.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…he uh, his mother told him not to talk to strangers,” he winces even as the words spill from his lips. There’s being honest, and then there’s being too honest.

Xiao Zhan bites his lip as he watches his friend’s expression morph slowly from curiosity, to surprise and then to glee. 

“Don’t say it,” he tries, knowing it’s futile.

“Holy fuck, it’s _him_. The guy from New Zealand who left you standing in the parking lot?”

“Shut up, Ziyi,” he warns, looking around. Her voice is getting louder.

“What are you waiting for?” She nudges him by the shoulder. “Go ask him out.”

“Are you insane? He’s some hotshot professional biker, why would he want to have anything to do with me?”

Meng Ziyi rolls her eyes, remembering her friend is the guy who ranked himself a six on a scale of ten in terms of looks. The only logical and plausible way he would ever be a six is if it was on a scale of one to five. The absolute kicker is that he wasn’t being falsely modest about it. He seems totally blind to how good looking he is and Ziyi has spent too many years being a default beard to fend off unwanted attention from both males and females, to now sit down and do nothing about the first guy her friend has actually been interested in. 

“If you don’t ask him out yourself, I’m doing it for you.”

“Ziyi!” He hisses. “No. Can you please drop it?”

“I’m serious.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes, you need to get laid and he looks like he’d know what to do about that.”

“Ziyi, please.”

She hears the hint of desperation in his voice and she backs off just a little bit. “Zhanzhan, some risks are worth taking.”

He looks over her shoulder at the tall man standing with his arms crossed as he leans down to listen to someone shorter. His mouth moves, but not to speak.

To suck.

On that fucking lollipop.

Rolling it with his tongue, he parks it from his left cheek to his right and then back again. The moue of his mouth is wet enough that he can see the shiny stickiness centred around where the stick disappears into his mouth. Having tasted that exact type of lollipop when he was in New Zealand all those months ago, he knows exactly what that mouth would taste like. He barely manages to stop the short, shameless gasp he almost let out when he sees the daintiest little tip of a very pink tongue curved under that white stick before it retreats back behind that luscious mouth.

Pressing his own lips tightly together and swallowing drily, he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, while slipping a hand into the front pocket of his trousers to surreptitiously adjust himself.

Xiao Zhan discovers something about himself in that moment. He apparently has a serious oral fixation and he’s not the only one. He notices others noticing and that finally prompts him into making a decision to take action, his jaw tense with nerves and irritation at the unashamed ogling going on around him while his stomach ties itself up into knots.

“Fine.”

Meng Ziyi eyes her friend up and down. She has never seen him so tense and yet his body is practically leaning in the direction of the hot biker. This level of _want_ shouldn’t be so obvious to the naked eye and she is pretty sure the man doesn’t even realise it. Since she has never actually seen or experienced Xiao Zhan turned down by anyone in any situation, not even by their clients or the cranky old auntie at a mixed rice stall when he wants some extra vegetables, she is pretty certain the outcome is a given no matter how hot said biker is in his own right.

She gives him a playful thumbs up. “Just knock his helmet off with your dimples. You know how to work it,” she winks. “I’ll be waiting.”

“When he turns me down, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“If you go in thinking he’s going to say no, of fucking course he’ll say no.” She is tall at 5’7 in flats but in heels, she is only a couple of inches shorter than her best friend. She pinches his cheeks and straightens his suit jacket. “Bite your lip.”

“What?”

“Just do it,” she continues fussing with his clothes as he obediently chews on his lips. She loosens his tie slightly and pops off the top button of his shirt, laughing lightly as she straightens his collar. “You know I’ll stop nagging at you about cutting your hair. You look rather hot like this.”

“With a mullet?” He questions incredulously. He is starting to sweat. That is never a good sign.

“It’s not a mullet, stop calling it that,” she smacks him on the chest. “Now go get him.” She pushes him off in the direction of the biker who is now standing in profile to them, looking unimaginably bored. There is a petulant turn to his generous mouth that makes her want to mother him for whatever strange reason. 

Shaking her head ruefully, she smiles fondly thinking her wife must be rubbing off on her. Between the two of them, Lulu is definitely the mothering sort. She on the other hand, is more likely to take a guy by his balls and twist until he yells _uncle_. Yet for some reason with the aloof biker, there is this niggling feeling in her of wanting to protect. 

Xiao Zhan stumbles slightly at his friend’s rougher than usual shove, but manages to stop just before he barrels into a guy carrying two beers. He gets a disdainful look but he ignores him, standing straight and taking a deep breath with his eyes on the prize. He has half an hour before the man leaves to get his own prize and he is determined to get at least his name. He can look it up of course, but he wants to hear it from him. 

Unaware of the appraising looks sent his way, he walks through the crowd, once again surprised at how effortless it is, wholly missing the fact that people tend to get out of his way in general.

Too soon, he finds himself standing in front of the man whose eyes are still hidden by the shades. He has moved to sit perched on one of the bikes in the garage, twirling the stem of the finished lollipop with long elegant fingers as he stares out in the direction of the track.

“Uh...hi.”

He hears the greeting but he takes his time turning. He just wants to ride. He hates this part of the job. All the brown-nosing and shoulder rubbing or patting or whatever it is they do. As it is, he’s already been propositioned twice from each sex and he’s barely been there half an hour. The instrumental version of Such A Whore is playing and he finds it rather apt as he prepares to offend yet another sponsor or affiliate. He told Yamaha he doesn’t like to talk but they insisted so this is on them.

It takes everything he has not to gasp at the vision that meets his eyes.

“You.” He manages to get out without stumbling over the word. He speaks in English though, and remembering the man’s request from last time, he switches to Mandarin, repeating the same thing in a slightly more subdued tone. His heart is beating a little too rapidly for comfort and he belatedly wonders if his childhood ailment is suddenly back to haunt him. Whatever it is, it has really bad timing.

“Oh, you remember me?” Xiao Zhan asks a little incredulously. A tiny kernel of hope explodes in his chest.

Yibo wonders if the man thinks he’s really that forgettable. His face is less full but no less handsome, and those beauty marks dotting his face are going to be the death of him. Apart from his strange coffee order, it was the second thing that captured his attention. While he was surrounded by numerous friends with freckles in New Zealand, moles or beauty marks like that were rare and viewed with fear rather than admiration. The pretty sprinkle of moles across his basically poreless face had been distracting enough for Yibo to continue talking to the man instead of behaving the way his mother told him to when speaking with strangers.

“Did you follow me all the way from Coronet Peak?”

Xiao Zhan frowns. “No.”

“Sure,” he cracks his neck loudly, watching the tall, handsome man visibly flinch at the sound and he has to hide the sudden insane urge to smile. _Cute_. Considering he hasn’t felt like smiling in the slightest in the past six months, that is a feat indeed for the gorgeous stranger to have elicited such a reaction from him and he suddenly feels a little wary. “Why are you here then if you’re not stalking me?” His tone is more belligerent then he wanted it to be and he is impressed when the other man doesn’t seem to take it to heart.

The man points to one of the logos on the bike he is sitting on. “Client.” He says it like it’s a bad thing though, managing to look both sheepish and a little proud at the fact. He then points to the bike he is perched on. “You’re Tracer 85?”

“Yes.”

The brilliant grin he gets in return to his curt reply is blinding. He is definitely thankful for his sunglasses because he cannot take his eyes off the man. He is in a word, beautiful.

In two words, _stunningly beautiful_. Yibo has never seen anything brighter.

“I designed that. I didn’t know it was for you though.”

This time his mouth does part in surprise. He had assumed the man to be in his early 20s at the very most but he also knows that the one who designed his logo is the CEO of the company. His eyes follow each feature, his frown is resplendent in the etched furrow in his forehead.

“How old are you?” He finally asks, unable to think of anything else because he is still floored at the fact that _this man_ is the one responsible for the logo he had unerringly chosen out of the five that were presented to him, each from a different agency. What were the chances of that?

Xiao Zhan chuckles, shaking his head. “Can we do this properly?” He holds out his hand. “My name is Xiao Zhan and I’m 28.”

He takes his hand in his, strangely pleased at how the older man’s smaller hand fits against his palm. “Wang Yibo.” He licks his watermelon-flavoured lips just as the Yamaha Team Leader calls out to him. “Nice to meet you.” He manages to get out before he is swept away by several Yamaha staff for an interview he definitely did not agree to.

“So…” Ziyi sidles up to her friend who is still contemplating the motorbike that is now without its rider. “How did it go?”

“His name is Wang Yibo.”

She rolls her eyes as she slips her arm through his and gently turns him round so they can head back towards the VIP area. “I could have told you that.”

“Yes, but _he_ told me that.”

Her laughter is exasperated yet fond. “You really have it bad huh? So did you ask him out?”

“I never got a chance.”

—

He does get a chance later and he takes it.

“Hey.”

“You are stalking me, huh?”

Xiao Zhan shakes his head with a disarming smile. “I was invited. I wouldn’t have attended out of my own free will.” He nods towards the small bar. “Can I get you a drink?”

Yibo stares at the man as if he is trying to figure him out. “A soda is fine.”

The CEO wrinkles his nose a little too cutely for someone who owns and runs his own company.

“You’re not riding again later are you? Surely you can get something stronger?”

An eyebrow quirks and Yibo replies in a lazy drawl. “I really don’t think you’d want to deal with the consequences of getting me a stiff drink, _gege_.”

“Ah, are you a lightweight?” Xiao Zhan asks letting out a small giggle that he abruptly swallows, colouring slightly at the high pitched sound. “I…I used to be too in college but too many outings with clients over the years has made me a little better.” He chuckles a little self-consciously. “Well, little is relative. Ziyi can still drink me under the table easily and she’s practically half my weight.”

_Cute_. Seriously, too fucking cute. Yibo is going to have him for dinner if he’s not careful.

“Something like that,” he answers, his amusement curtailed by the mention of some female. “Who’s Ziyi?”

“My saviour,” Xiao Zhan replies easily, missing the deepening frown on the other man’s face. “Though she doesn’t go out a lot now with clients after being married and all. Her wife might turn a blind eye to one night out but three in a row would be pushing it so I’ve got to take one for the team.”

Yibo blinks. “Wife?”

Xiao Zhan laughs. “I know right? I’m finding it hard to believe she’s married too. I used to tell her she’d be one of those cat ladies with forty-three cats and found dead in her apartment five weeks later half eaten by them and they’d need to identify her using her dental records since I’m pretty sure her fingers and toes would be gnawed off first.”

The younger man visibly recoils, making a face at the rather graphic image that has just been placed in his head. “What the fuck? That’s gross.”

“Sorry,” Xiao Zhan laughs easily and properly this time. “Occupational hazard maybe. I’m always thinking weird things.”

“Well, next time add a filter. I don’t even know you and here we are talking about chewed off appendages,” Yibo shudders and looks around. “Fuck, you seriously just made me lose my appetite and I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Oh.” 

Xiao Zhan’s face falls so abruptly and so quickly that Yibo practically stumbles over himself trying to fix his words. He has never had to mind them in all his life and yet suddenly he’s feeling like maybe there is such a thing as being too blunt. 

“I don’t usually eat on race day since I have to drink a lot to stay hydrated. It’s not your fault.” He grimaces for a moment before offering a truth. “And I don’t do very well with gruesome things. It’s definitely a me thing.” He walks up to and past the man, nudging his shoulder as he goes past, acutely aware that the other has at least two inches on him. “Don’t worry about it, gege.”

Turning around to follow Yibo as he heads to the buffet to attempt to find something to eat, Xiao Zhan tries again. “So…since I sort of ruined your dinner accidentally, can I make it up to you?”

“Are you trying to ask me out?”

“Trying seems to be the operative word, yes.”

Yibo hums as he peruses the selection, acutely aware of the jittery man next to him. “Try again in a few months.”

Xiao Zhan frowns at the prawn cocktail he has just picked up. “Is that a no?”

“It’s not a yes.”

**~~~**

“You’ve literally been moping for the past two months. It’s not my fault you forgot to ask for his number and it’s certainly not my fault that he’s decided not to race again till August. And it is one hundred percent not my fault that you decided not to stalk him so to speak so you don’t even know where the fuck he is or what he’s doing.”

Xiao Zhan swipes half heartedly at his friend who just rolls her eyes as she side steps him easily on her way to her walk-in wardrobe to get ready. He is seated one the edge of her marital bed, with the covers on of course though he doesn’t need to know that covers don’t really matter when you want to rail your wife on every surface constantly. The sheets are new at least so her conscience is somewhat clear.

“Awwww Zizi, stop teasing our Zhanzhan. Can’t you see he’s broken hearted?” Lulu sits down next to the morose man and puts her arm around him in a side hug. 

“Wang Yibo didn’t say no,” Ziyi yells out from her closet.

“He didn’t say yes either,” Xiao Zhan yells back.

Ziyi sticks her neck round the door and smiles sweetly, her words poison. “He’s probably leaning closer to no now seeing as you didn’t even bother asking for his number.”

“Not helping,” Lulu grumbles, standing up and pressing a quick kiss to Xiao Zhan’s forehead. “Let me deal with her. You get ready.”

“I don’t wanna go,” Xiao Zhan pouts, crossing his arms petulantly. “What the hell do I know about Gucci anyway? They won’t need a graphic designer like me. Ziyi is who they want.”

“Yes, and Zizi and Zhanzhan come as a pair whether the two of you like it or not so you’ll go and be supportive just as she was supportive when you had to attend that race in May.”

Xiao Zhan wrinkles his nose, recognising Lulu’s _behave so help me god I’m going to smack some sense into you_ voice. “You used to be so much sweeter,” he grumbles. “Ziyi is rubbing off on you.”

“If you don’t want to hear the explicit comeback to that, you best get back to your room and get dressed,” Xuan Lu replies with a sweet smile that terrifyingly actually reaches her eyes.

He hightails out of there, slamming the door on twin cackles. 

Witches. He swears they’re both witches of some sort.

—

“You have two of the best-looking women in the room on your arms and you look like you’d rather be at home watching Netflix. Can you smile?” Ziyi grits out between her teeth as she smiles at yet another passing photographer.

Lulu on his other side laughs lightly. “I overheard a couple of people talking about him. He’s rocking the tall dark and handsome so maybe not smiling is working out.”

Xiao Zhan just grunts, staring at yet another photographer dead in the lens. “Why are we being photographed anyway?”

“Everyone gets photographed at these things.” Ziyi replies. “Why do you think we insisted on dressing you?”

“I’m still missing half my hair,” Xiao Zhan grumbles, trying to reach up to check on the undercut Lulu had given him but his arm is held fast by Ziyi. 

“You look fine. More than fine. You look like a wet dream so stop fidgeting and fucking smile.”

“A wet dream with an undercut and a ponytail?” Xiao Zhan asks aghast. “I have never felt stranger.”

“This is why you leave the fashion to us. Just brood or whatever. You seem to be doing a good job since the photographers keep coming back to us. You two might get some work out of this if nothing else.” 

Ziyi hums as there is a sudden commotion and it feels like every single photographer has suddenly rushed off to the other side of the room. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Celebrity probably.”

“Great,” Xiao Zhan gently shakes off both women and turns away to look at the row of trinkets that they have on display. They are showcasing a new collection and the items are actually for sale and limited edition. He has his eye on a couple of things and has already reserved them for collection and payment later. One item in particular makes him think of someone though and he smothers that thought immediately, convincing himself that he’s getting the item _for himself_.

“Well…I don’t know if the gods favour you or something but you will never believe who the celebrity is.”

“Who?” Xiao Zhan asks without turning, staring at the ox head necklace he had already bought and will likely never wear. 

“Wow…he looks way better in person,” Lulu gushes a little. “Seriously, I thought he was drop dead gorgeous when you pointed out that magazine spread the other day but damn.” She shakes her head and turns to the stunned Xiao Zhan who has finally turned around. “Zhanzhan you sure know how to pick them. He’ll test your photography skills at least because I am certain he is not photogenic.”

“I think he’s spotted you,” Ziyi murmurs, tugging at her wife. “Come on, Lulu. I don’t want to witness the clash of the titans.”

“I do.”

“You’re such a shipper,” Ziyi mutters before pressing a cheek kiss on Lulu to avoid messing their lipstick. “Fine, you stay. I’ll bring drinks. I’m sure I’m going to need them.” 

She manages to slip away before Yibo gets to them, the man not registering her exit in any case, his attention only on one.

“You.”

Xiao Zhan shakes himself from his stupor. “I have a name.”

“Gege.”

Lulu giggles and Yibo’s attention slides to her before returning it to Xiao Zhan and then back to her. 

“Ziyi?” He asks hesitantly.

“Mrs Ziyi if you must. I’m the wife,” she holds out her hand. “You can call me Lulu.” She grins. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Good things I hope.”

She pretends to think about it, tapping her chin in an exaggerated fashion and actually making him smile in the process at her antics. He’s never met a pretty woman so unselfconscious about herself and he finds that he likes it.

“Well…it was mostly to do with a _not a no and not a yes_.”

“I see,” his expression is vaguely regretful for a second. “Well, nice to meet you,” he pauses for a second, looking at the silent man next to her. “Nice hair,” he smirks slightly before inclining his head and turning away, pulling out something from his pocket as he does as he returns to his entourage that had been watching from a distance.

Xiao Zhan recognises the same green and red wrapper just as Lulu elbows him in the gut.

“Seriously? You said four words and nothing else?”

“I see the train wreck is still a train wreck,” Ziyi greets with three champagne glasses held in her hands. 

“He literally just said _I have a name_ and Yibo called him _gege_ in this low deep voice and I may or may not have swooned.”

“She giggled so she definitely swooned,” Xiao Zhan confirms, taking a fortifying sip of the bubbly liquid and grimacing before growling _fuck it_ under his breath and downing the rest of his glass.

“Why don’t you go over. He already made the first move coming over here but you weren’t exactly a chatterbox. We’ll go mingle and leave you to try again.”

“He said _a few months_ ,” Xiao Zhan points out. “It’s July.”

“At least get his damn number so you can actually ask him out in _a few months_ then, geez.” Ziyi rolls her eyes exasperatedly. “I swear if you don’t, you’re not allowed to talk about him until August when I know you’re going to his race.”

“There’s a lot of people around him.” Xiao Zhan frowns slightly in the direction of the group close to the centre of the large hall.

Lulu nods, her expression thoughtful. “Yes, but he keeps moving towards the edge. He doesn’t want to be in the centre. He also keeps looking over.”

“Just go over already,” Ziyi pushes him again, not unlike the way she did in May at the races. “We’ll take you out to eat hotpot after this if it doesn’t work out. Your favourite place.”

“I can almost guarantee it’s going to be a no.”

“With an attitude like that, I don’t know how you ended up being CEO.”

“I know what I’m doing there. I haven’t the faintest fucking idea what I’m doing here.” Xiao Zhan has in that moment noticed once again that people’s attention on Yibo has become decidedly marked. “Fuck. I don’t know why he insists on sucking that damn lollipop,” he practically storms off in the direction of the younger man and the two women exchange looks.

“Well…”

“Wang Yibo likes lollipops apparently.” Ziyi remarks with a smirk. “And everyone around him rather enjoys that fact. Xiao Zhan on the other hand, hates it.”

“Sure…he _hates_ it,” Lulu echoes her wife’s amusement as she watches the confrontation.

—

“Hi.”

Yibo pulls out the lollipop with a soft pop. “Hello.”

“Can we talk?”

“Sure.” Yibo looks around and then waits expectantly as he pops the lollipop back in. He uses it as a tool to discourage people from talking to him. He knows people stare and he knows why they do but as long as they leave him alone, he’s fine with the staring. 

“Not here.”

Instead of pulling out the lollipop, he rolls it over into his cheek, noticing the way Xiao Zhan’s eyes follow the movement and he sighs inwardly before gesturing for the man to lead the way.

Xiao Zhan leads him to a side table, one of the many chairless bar tables dotting the area and thankfully empty. He doesn’t know how long he has before people start converging on Wang Yibo. As it is, photographers are still snapping photos of them and he’s starting to get irritated by the flashes.

Pulling out his lollipop again when the table appears to be their final destination for the moment, Yibo stares at the older man. “What did you want to talk about?” He pops his lollipop back into his mouth and his brow furrows slightly when Xiao Zhan doesn’t look away from his mouth. Licking his lips, he sees the older man mirror the movement and he sighs again. Resigned, he leaves his lollipop in his cheek and waits.

“Must you do that in public?”

Yibo pulls out the sweet again and waves it slightly. “This?”

“So you know.”

“Of course. I’m not blind.”

Xiao Zhan clamps his jaws together at the growing belligerence from the younger man. This is definitely not going as planned. Actually, he has no plans. He just…he doesn’t really know why it bothers him but it does. It more than bothers him. It bothers him on a visceral level and it bothers him that he’s a hypocrite about it. He’s one of those gawking. He’s one of those ogling. Why does he have a say in it anyway since he’s just as bad as everyone else.

“I’m sorry,” he finally spits out tightly through gritted teeth. “That was out of line.”

“Yes,” Yibo agrees quietly. “It was.” He pauses for a moment, still holding the lollipop. “Did you want to talk about something else?”

Honestly, he hadn’t thought that far ahead but he takes a chance again regardless.

“Well…would you allow me to apologise properly?”

“Are you trying to ask me out _again_?” 

“That depends I guess,” Xiao Zhan scratches through the shorn hair at the back of his neck before dropping his hand and eyeing the lolly in Yibo’s fingers.

“On?”

“If you’re going to agree to go out with me or not.”

Yibo watches the older man staring at his lollipop before he sighs quietly. Stepping up into Xiao Zhan’s space, clearly startling him if his expression is anything to go by, he shoves his lollipop between the CEO’s parted lips and does his damndest not to stare at that pretty fucking mole under his bottom lip.

“Ask me again next month.”

Xiao Zhan’s entire body shudders at the contact as the younger man pushes past him again, his mouth closing around the sweet reflexively, his mind blanking out for a few seconds.

By the time he comes back to himself, Yibo is gone and his watermelon lollipop is still in his mouth.

“As far as indirect kisses go, that was pretty fucking direct. Did you get his number?”

He shakes his head mutely, sucking gently on the lollipop.

Watermelon.

And Yibo. 

He nearly laughs when Lil Wayne’s Lollipop starts playing right then. The universe must be fucking with him.

—

“Sir, this is for you.”

Yibo turns to his bodyguard, frowning at the box the man has just pressed into his hand. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, sir but it was from the guy you uh…gave your lollipop to so I thought it was fine to accept.”

“I see.” He nods curtly, dismissing the man before turning to look down at the box. Recognising the logo, he wonders what the man had gotten since by the time he arrived, all the items on display were already sold out. He had only wanted one thing though since it represented his birth year.

His mouth parts in surprise when he sees the necklace.

And the exact ox head he had wanted.

“Gege…” he murmurs. “I really fucking hope you turn up next month.”


	2. You

Xiao Zhan did not turn up for his race in August. Yibo had looked and looked and he even asked the Yamaha staff and even deigned to speak with his sponsors to try and figure out where the elusive graphics designer CEO had gotten to. His only indication that something might be amiss was that his agency had definitely accepted the invitation and had even requested a plus one to make it three. Yibo had assumed it was for Lulu. However, not a single one of them had turned up.

Disappointed and more than a little irritated at himself for feeling so for a guy he knows quite literally nothing about apart for some superficial facts, Yibo decides right then and there that out of sight is out of mind. He doesn’t believe in serendipity, more inclined to accept that Xiao Zhan is a stalker then to rely on an unseen alignment of the universe to make it _just so_. 

Feeling the weight of the ox head charm around his neck hidden underneath his racing suit, Yibo is not quite annoyed enough to consider taking it off. Unable to explain his attachment to it, nor willing to take a chance that his good fortune over the past six weeks isn’t related to it in some way or other, he stubbornly convinces himself that it makes total sense for him to keep a gift from a man who has for all intents and purposes, stood him up.

Milling around one last time, Yibo opens up the lollipop he is so accustomed to keeping on hand. When he was younger, he had unerringly been drawn to the less popular flavour simply because of its wrapper. 

Green.

A decade later, old habits do really die hard. A little like his worn white Nike bag that has seen better days, a parting gift from his father before he left. He doesn’t care that he should and could be carrying better accessories with his new side deals. Being the new face of several major designer labels including Gucci, Celine and Chanel who had all wanted a piece of the younger market rather than catering to just their parents, Yibo had been chosen from among several prospects.

All of his competition had been actors or idols of some shape or form but because of that, they all had an image to maintain. Yibo on the other hand, doesn’t really care as long as he looks fine and Yamaha couldn’t give any fucks either as long as he continues to race as well as he has. 

Put him in a singlet, a pair of shorts, a skirt, a dress, a matronly jacket, a straw hat, a blazer, or a winter scarf and not much else, he’ll make it his mission to rock it. Pushing past his own discomfort to do well has always been his own measure of success and as far as challenges go, this is nothing. 

And it shows.

He’s been wooed by modelling agencies left right and centre but he sticks with what he knows. He’s represented by an agency alright. The owner in fact. She handles all his bookings, and his contracts and she barely takes even a full percentage of his earnings, telling him that they are his to keep and it is no trouble spending no more than a couple of hours of her day making sure his days run smoothly. The one thing she had not compromised on though is his security, and Wang Yibo travels with two bodyguards at all times. 

The only kicker is that she’s the owner of a matchmaking agency not a modelling agency.

**~~~**

Xiao Zhan is starting to get a little too good at zoning out especially when his mother starts talking about marriage and children and she is surprisingly, not too fussed about the order in which he obtains them.

She had left him alone for most of his 20s, originally mistaken as to the nature of his relationship with Ziyi and then after she had found out, started using Ziyi’s own relationship as a reason for him to also get serious about finding someone. Pointing out his obviously affable nature and ability to get along with anyone from age 8 months to 80 years old, she is deeply reluctant to accept that her son has still not brought home a single person despite her nagging. She refuses to believe her tall, extremely successful, extraordinarily handsome son has not had any proper prospects in the last decade.

In fact, after finding out his sexual orientation, she had even told him she doesn’t care who he brings home, as long as he’s happy.

Grandchildren are non-negotiable though since he is her only hope for them and with how much he loves children being practically a child himself at times, he has always been fine with that requirement.

Now though, while he can probably adopt or get a surrogate whenever he wants, she has chosen to focus on the fact that he’s not had a serious relationship in…well, forever.

“Mama…” he sighs. “I’m busy. I’m the CEO, the company doesn’t exactly run itself. Even outside the nine to five, I’m constantly designing late into the night. Who would put up with that?”

“Ziyi is also busy.”

“So is Lulu. They keep each other company in their busy-ness,” Xiao Zhan chuckles. “I’m not even sure if that’s a word.”

“Then maybe you should find someone busy then who understands your hours.”

“Ma,” he reaches over to pat her hand fondly. “How are two busy people supposed to meet in the first place? I don’t even have time to make it to my own client engagements at times,” he frowns, thinking about one such incident over a year ago that to this day he hasn’t stopped regretting. 

As if waiting for the exact opening, she beams at her son. “Matchmaking!”

Groaning he retracts his hand and leans back in his chair, observing her obvious delight at her own bright idea. He loves his mother dearly and he knows his father’s business trips overseas leaves a gap in her life that she uses to focus on her only child. However right now he’s the one who will suffer for it.

“Ma…I’m not yet so over the hill that you need to resort to that.”

“Busy young people use it as well especially with all the technology these days. There’s this matchmaker who has _never_ had a match not end up in a long-term relationship. She will not accept the full payment unless she is certain of success so it’s almost like a no win no fee apart from the initial deposit and she is very expensive. I managed to get an interview with her next week after her schedule unexpectedly freed up so you better be here.”

“Ma…”

“I’ve already made the downpayment.”

“Ma!”

She then proceeds to name a figure and it nearly makes his eyes bleed. Apparently, the deposit is non-refundable.

Of course.

Resigned and feeling more than a little put out at his mother’s meddling, he leaves their monthly dinner early that night, promising to be present for the world’s most expensive interview the following week. Based on the cost alone, he’ll give it a genuine go at least. However unless whoever his match is can erase a small handsome face with a penchant for sucking on watermelon lollipops and invades his dreams every now and again, he has a feeling his mother has just basically burned money for nought.

**~~~**

“Aiya, Wang Yibo can you get out of my hair. I have work to do!” Mrs Wang swats over her head at her son who laughingly ducks out of the way. “I’ll stop buying those damn lollipops you love so much. Then how will you survive?”

“Mama!”

“Don’t _Mama_ me. Your auntie is going to be here soon with the latest client and we need to work. Why don’t you go to the skate park or something? All your excess energy from all those sweets is going to drive me to an early grave rather than you.”

Pouting, Yibo goes around the couch and drops to the ground, chin on his mother’s knee as she gazes down with fond exasperation at him. “I’m hardly home and when I am you treat me like this? Your only son? Your only child?”

“Don’t you have a race to train for?”

“Boring.”

“Boring because you keep winning?

“Mn.”

“Well you know the solution to that,” she watches in amusement as tilts his head to rest his cheek on her knee, fiddling with the ox head necklace that never leaves him.

“What? Lose?” He scrunches his nose in distaste. He’s actually fairly busy but he still lives at home and his mother works from home so it’s not like they can escape each other. He’s been up since 5am and has been to the gym, the race track, put in an appearance at a lunch meeting with some sponsors and filmed a thirty second ad. He’s basically done a full day of living for most people and it’s barely 5pm. 

“No, find something to challenge yourself. If your peers are not challenging you then move the goalposts for yourself.”

“Yes, Mama.” He’s heard the same thing before and it’s not as if he doesn’t live by it already. He just wants to complain a little but his mother has always been rather no-nonsense and it’s definitely rubbed off on him. The separation from his dad who is still working in New Zealand has definitely taken a toll but thanks to his jobs, he can easily buy business or even first class tickets for them to commute. She usually goes when he has to be away for at least two weeks otherwise getting over the time difference isn’t worth the trip. His father can’t get away yet and he saves up on his off days for when his mother goes to visit. He hasn’t seen his dad in over two years now outside of a screen but the man is understanding about it. Yibo, not so much and he still holds a certain amount of resentment towards his formerly adopted country. The irregularities with his status due to an unscrupulous immigration agent had caused him to be deported and his mother had opted to be the parent to go with him. He is banned from returning for five years and he still has a few to go. “Why does Auntie have a new client so fast? Doesn’t she usually take one client at a time so she can devote all her time to them? Isn’t this latest female super troublesome? She keeps complaining about her every time she comes round.”

Mrs Wang’s expression morphs into pure glee. “She eloped last week so her schedule opened up.”

“Huh? Didn’t they only just meet?”

“Yes, but she took a full month to even pick the one so I guess all that ruminating and being a damn pain in the ass actually led to something.”

“What did the AI say?”

“She had seven options, all ranging from 75% to 83%.”

“That’s…high?”

She nods, carding her hands through his thick, currently shortish hair as he crawls up onto the couch to lay his head in her lap properly. Some people might think him a mama’s boy for all the time he spends at home when not working, but he’s actually a papa’s boy. His father was a racer and a current mechanical engineer with a rally team in New Zealand which is why he cannot really leave and Yibo has never asked him too either. He understands what keeps his father there since he was practically raised in garages, following his dad wherever he was allowed and he was lucky enough that most people didn’t mind a curious young boy being underfoot. The second he could get his licences at 15, he had gotten them. Just in time too since they increased the age limit the following year. He had his full driver’s and motorbike licences well before his 17th birthday and was already racing semi-professionally at that age. The youngest on the circuit. 

“Yes, you know your auntie won’t consider anyone lower than 70% since she says that’s the magic number for a guaranteed match.”

“Based on your algorithm.”

“Mn,” she nods. “I’ve refined it over the years, I think the accuracy is better now than what it was five years ago.”

“So someone who was 75% back then likely won’t even be 70% now?”

She pinches his cute mantou cheeks, ignoring his protesting grumbles and ineffectual swipes to get her hands away. Hey, he chose to be in her lap so his cheeks are fair game. He’s lost basically all his baby fat but his adorable cheeks are still there and she is thankful. It reminds her that her handsome young son is not as old as he’d like for people to believe. Judging by the number of times he’s been propositioned over the years that she knows of, and more that she probably doesn’t, he’s definitely doing a good job of it though she doesn’t like it at all.

“Yes.”

“And yet, Auntie still has a 100% success rate?”

“She does use her own insights you know. She rates their compatibility as well based on her interviews. She uses the AI to narrow the pool and then narrows it further.” She boops the rounded tip of her nose. “Why the sudden interest anyway? Are you looking?” She teases lightly, not serious in the slightest. “Not that you need to considering how you’re practically proposed to every other week.”

Yibo bites his lip. He never told his mother about the man he met three times in two separate countries. He hadn’t given the first meeting much thought except for the fact that the man’s smiles seemed to haunt his dreams for a good long while after that. Same thing after their second meeting. After the third he was resigned to the fact that he definitely feels _something_ and judging by his persistency, Xiao Zhan seems to have felt _something_ too. 

Fully expecting the man to turn up at his August race, he can still taste the bitter disappointment whose flavour is still a strong memory on his tongue. The whole out of sight out of mind thing hasn’t worked that well for him, but given how busy he is, he hasn’t had time to dwell on it. They clearly don’t move in the same circles because he hasn’t seen the man again.

Shrugging to avoid the now curious look his mother is aiming at him for his lengthy silence, he decides to go for shock value and in all honesty, it might be the impetus he needs to forget a certain man who smiles like the sun and who has stars sprinkled liberally across his face and ears.

“Why not?”

“Wang Yibo, are you serious?”

He shrugs again. “Well, let’s see how good your AI and auntie’s instincts are then. You know i’d never lie to either of you so what better way to see if your methods are infallible?”

“Isn’t her 100% success rate already enough to convince you?”

He sits up shaking his head, crossing his legs on the settee as he turns to lean against the arm rest and faces his mother. “Well, no. I’m genuinely curious. Why don’t you match me with this new client. Guy or girl? Not that it matters but you know, I probably have a better chance with a guy. I like girls enough but not enough.”

“Yes, he’s gay.”

“See? Perfect! Even the universe agrees.” 

His smile widens into a gremlin smirk she recognises very well and she knows trying to talk him out of this is futile.

She rolls her eyes. “What about the interview?”

“She already interviewed me last year, remember?”

“Ah, yes. As a control subject. Well, she’s just about to get a challenge then I guess.”

“Do I get to see him?”

Mrs Wang shakes her head. “Easy there, my little lion. Auntie needs to agree first.”

He roars playfully at her, making her laugh just as the doorbell rings.

—

Yibo is fiddling with the music controls, finally selecting a playlist just as someone exclaims loudly.

“Is this thing broken?” Madam Kim-Jung, also known as _auntie_ or _jiejie_ in the current household stares at the result on the screen before turning to the older Wang who is also frowning at her own screen. The younger Wang is sitting opposite them, stretched out on the couch like some young lord nursing a bottle of beer, his eyes flitting back and forth between his mother and herself. 

“I literally just ran the last _three_ profile matches you had recently and the results are the same. 79% for the one who just eloped and 77% for the one who got engaged before that and 71% for the ones who moved in together within a month. Nothing is broken.”

“What’s wrong?” Yibo finally asks, watching the two ladies. Auntie had been reluctant at first but since his mother had no objections, it’s not like she has a say over what he does outside his schedule so she had agreed. 

She had actually been pretty excited about this new client, waxing lyrical about what a catch he is and that it’s a shame that he hasn’t managed to find someone on his own. His answer to the question had been curiously cynical, stating that he has tried dating and going on the occasional blind date but most of the time he has no idea if the person is after him for his money or if they genuinely like him especially since he cannot really fathom anyone accepting his crazy hours. When there are deadlines, he sometimes personally works alongside his other designers and can go 36-48 hours without going home, stealing naps on the couch in his office He is humble to the point where he cannot even see how breathtaking he is and if she had been thirty years younger, she would have been tempted had he not been gay.

“Do you know what the highest match your mum has had on her program?”

“Number or percentage?”

“Both.”

He frowns slightly, taking a long sip of his beer while trying to recall. They’ve definitely had this conversation before. “85% and…11 I think.”

“Good memory.” She smiles slightly but her eyes are still on her screen. “My new client just picked up 18 matches.”

“Including me?”

She exchanges a glance with his mother who is looking a little peaked. “Yes, including you.”

“What’s the range?” He downs the last of his beer before setting the empty bottle on the side table and sliding down on the couch to make himself more comfortable. He is in sweats and a tank top and thanks to the three bottles of beer and his early morning, he is already feeling quite warm and sleepy at half seven in the evening. He turns on his side so he can still see both women.

“Well,” his mother replies. “17 of the matches are in a range of 73% to 81%.”

“Not bad.” He observes, before his eyes brighten while he stares at his mother. “Mama are you trying to trick me? Didn’t Auntie say he had 18 matches?”

“One of the matches registered 97%.”

He waves a hand. “I think I heard you wrong, Mama. Did you say 97%?”

“You did,” she replies tightly, running the profiles together for the fifth time as if that would result in a different outcome. She feels like she might be going a little mad.

His smile is jaw-cracking as his gaze slides to the lady next to him. “I don’t think even you need to do any of your magic here. Just introduce them.” He pouts suddenly. “Damn, I was hoping for a distraction but I guess it’s not meant to be.”

There is a knit in Madam Kim-Jung’s brow as she considers the young man stretching languidly on the couch. His tank top has ridden up to reveal his muscled abdomen that he is currently scratching lazily as he sings along to the Japanese song currently playing. She understands the lyrics and can’t help but wonder if Fate had a strong hand in this.

_If I was born in order to meet you, then I wonder if I can change…?_

_I want to tell you something from my heart  
I’m hurt a little bit too much, but I’ll still be on time  
I love you from my heart  
I want to wipe all of the pain away that falls on you, I for you_

_I want to tell you something from my heart  
If only I can always look upon your smile_

_I love you from my heart  
I want to gather up all of the light that falls on you, I for you_

She waits till the song ends before interrupting because he is singing like he means each word as he stares up at the ceiling still scratching his belly. He speaks four languages fluently despite the fact that he never completed high school because of what happened and it is one of the reasons why she had offered her own considerable experience in navigating the new world he had entered over a year ago. She doesn’t want anyone taking advantage of him. He might appear hard as nails but like a lot of predators, he has a soft underbelly and she’ll be damned if she leaves him open to be wounded already more than he already has in the short stint he’s had on earth.

“What were you trying to be distracted from?”

“You mean who,” he answers honestly. “A guy. It’s been over a year and I don’t know why I can’t forget him. I thought maybe if I met someone else and your matching thing actually works that…” he trails off. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“What’s he like?” His mother asks, forgetting the insane result they had just been flabbergasted over in favour of a heartsick son. This is the first she’s heard of it. 

He smiles slightly. “He’s got a smile that could distract anyone. It’s like the sun and so fucking bright it hurts to look at it sometimes but I want to get closer. Maybe I’ll get burned and maybe I already have but…I guess I wanted to at least have been given a chance.” He rubs his nose. “Maybe he found out how old I was. He’s a CEO and probably didn’t want to be saddled with me.”

Madam Kim-Jung knitted brow deepens. “A CEO? How old is he?”

“Don’t know, but he designed my Tracer 85 logo.”

She sucks in a sharp breath. “You didn’t look him up?”

He moves to sit himself up a little, still reclining indolently out on the couch but raised enough so he can look at both women easily. “This might be weird but I…” he scratches his head and then the back of his neck, expression sheepish, hesitant, and completely showing his age. “I wanted to find it out from him. I didn’t want to stalk him.”

“Do you know the company that designed the logo?”

“Why?” He asks, suddenly suspicious. “Are you going to look him up?”

“No,” she answers truthfully. That isn’t why she wants to know. “I really won’t look him up. I promise.”

Yibo stares at her, his eyes intent, searching her face to look for a lie and finding none. His body visibly relaxes as he sinks back properly against the downy cushions. “ZZ Studio, probably for his name and his partner’s. Zhan and Ziyi.” 

“No fucking way.”

He chuckles, “I’ve never heard you swear before. Mama swears all the time and she blames the Kiwis and their potty mouths but you’re posh. What happened?”

“Yibo,” his mother answers quietly instead of the women close to hyperventilating next to her. “You are the 97% match.”

He sits up abruptly, eyes wide. “What? Me? How? Why? What the fuck? Me?”

“He is a 30 year old CEO.”

Yibo wolf whistles long and low. “Damn, that’s an age gap. How the hell did a 30 year old get matched so perfectly with lil’ ol’ teenaged me?”

“He’s a graphics designer.”

Scrunching his nose, he tilts his head at his mother questioningly. “Huh…that’s odd. Maybe I have a type.”

Madam Kim-Jung starts laughing at that. Rather hysterically.

Mrs Wang wordlessly gets up to go to the kitchen to pop open three bottles of beer. Bringing them back, her friend is still cackling, tears of mirth and disbelief running down her cheeks which Yibo is just silently watching with a very perplexed expression on his face.

Her baby.

God, when did he grow up? And he’s about to grow up even faster.

In fact, she’d put money on a one-way Shinkansen straight into adulthood and there’s not a damn thing she would do about it even though she could. 

She hands out the beers and takes a long sip.

“Mama? Is something wrong?”

“Yibo, this is your 97% match.” She turns her laptop to face him.

A full beer bottle drops to the floor, shattering on impact.

—

“This is a joke right?”

“No, son.”

“Holy fuck.”

“I second that,” Madam Kim-Jung waves her intact, almost empty beer bottle. She hadn’t moved at all while mother and son cleaned up the mess the boy had made. Her head is still spinning.

“So now the question is, do you want to be put forward as an option.”

“Isn’t that the idea?”

“He’s the client so he gets to choose out of his 18 matches. Just like the last girl who took fucking forever.”

“No.”

“No, you don’t want to be put forward?”

“No, I don’t want him to have other options.”

“Ah.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Try.”

“Yibo,” Madam Kim-Jung’s expression is pained. “I love you like my own son but I can’t do that. There’s such a thing as business integrity among other things.”

“Return the deposit and tell them you can’t accept payment because you only managed to get one match.”

“He makes a good point, jiejie,” Mrs Wang murmurs. 

“You’re for this? He’s over a decade older than your son!”

“And my son already fell for him without knowing that. What does a number mean anyway? When you look at Yibo on his bike, does he look like a nineteen year old? When you see him at a photoshoot, does he act like a nineteen year old? Don’t sell him short, or me for that matter. I know my own son and yes, I support him.” Her expression turns wry. “And honestly, it’s easier to go with him than against him. He’s a force of nature.”

“Don’t I know it,” she sighs heavily. “Fine. _It’s bordering the limits of my integrity and morals_ ,” she says in a severe voice before softening her tone. “However if no money is exchanged, I can convince myself that we’re not doing anything shady.”

“I can pay you for—“

“Don’t even fucking think of it, boy. You’re treading on thin ice right now. I’m going to book you back to back for the next three years and you won’t see your husband at all if you do a single thing to embarrass me. You’re certain this is a sure thing?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He shoots back cheekily, his smile lighting up his face. “You called him my husband already and while I don’t know if it’s truly a sure thing, I’m willing to fight for it.”

“It’s a sure thing,” his mother states unequivocally. “And besides, I had him at 18. We both turned out fine for it.”

“Thanks, Mama…I think.”

**~~~**

“I’m sorry, Mrs Xiao. I cannot in good conscience take your money when I have only managed to find one match. We have reversed the charge and your bank has indicated that the funds will be back in your account within the week.”

“One?” The lady stares aghast at the other. “Aiyo, Zhanzhan what did you say during your interview…aish this boy will be the death of me!” She sighs heftily. “Do you know he’s never brought home a single person? Male or female? He’s 30 and…” she throws her hands up. “Maybe it’s not meant to be,” she sighs again a little dramatically.

“Please don’t blame him. This failing was mine,” Madam Kim-Jung assures the other lady. “This match is a sure thing though. The compatibility rate is off the charts and I would stake my reputation on it even if you haven’t paid for it.”

The older woman sighs for the third time. “Well, it’s not like I have a choice. Show me then.”

She hands over the folder and watches as the woman goes through it carefully.

—

“Are you sure this is right?”

“Yes. We checked it several times.”

“He’s so young and his vocation is so dangerous. How are they supposed to raise a family?” She is frowning now. “And a part-time model? A model? Aren’t they all flighty airheads? My son is a CEO! He doesn’t want a trophy wife or husband. He needs someone with substance.”

Madam Kim-Jung leans over and flips the pages of the folder to a certain page. She has the damn thing memorised front to back, back to front, and everything in between. She has to sell this one match and she’d be damned if she fails. 

“Their answers to their interview questions match. If your son answered truthfully, this man is everything he wants in a spouse. They would be fine with either adoption or surrogacy or both and even want the exact same number of children and pets.” Her cool facade cracks slightly and she smiles. “And they match right down to _willing to accept my busy life and schedule without rearranging their own lives drastically for me_ and _willing to be my plus one without complaint and attend boring events_ ,” her tone is pointed. “I paraphrased of course but they essentially said the same thing.” 

“Won’t they get bored then?” 

Her eyebrow goes up. “They match where it matters, and differ where it is doesn’t. They both have different interests and vocations yet fundamentally, they want the same things and have very similar core values. I can safely say it would be very difficult for them to get bored with each other.” She pauses for a second. “And they’re both willing to give up their jobs for a stable family life. Both of them.”

“You talk like it’s a sure thing already.”

“I do, don’t I?” Madam Kim-Jung leans back in her chair and smiles serenely. “This is my area of expertise.” She taps her nose. “You really should trust me.”

“I feel like I don’t have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice. I’m just offering you a sure thing.”

“At no cost?”

“At no cost.”

Mrs Xiao sighs for the umpteenth time. “Fine then. I guess I have nothing to lose. Can you see if Wang Yibo is free next weekend? I have a monthly dinner with Zhanzhan and it’ll be timely.”

“I’ll check with him and call you to confirm.”

“That’s fine.”

—

“Ma, can we postpone dinner next week? I’ve got a deadline and my main designer is out with some adult chicken pox which is apparently worse than a kid’s chicken pox. Who the hell gets chicken pox as an adult?”

Seeing as she’d just confirmed the date and time with Madam Kim-Jung, she’s not about to let her son off the hook without a fight.

“Is this office or home based?”

“Home, thank goodness. At least I’ll be comfortable.”

“How about we have it at your apartment then? I haven’t been to the penthouse since I helped you move in and it was just boxes then.”

“I might have to take work calls during dinner,” he warns. “We really need to get this done. It’s for Monster Energy and they’re debuting a whole new campaign and they’ve narrowed it down to three studios and we’re one of them and we only got told today.” He runs his hand roughly through his hair as he paces his office. “It’s based around athletes but that’s all they will tell us because they want to see our ideas for it. I know shit about athletes. This should be fun. Maybe I should just give up now.”

Mrs Xiao hums thoughtfully. She knows of one athlete. “Listen, how about making dinner a little earlier then? Say this weekend. It’ll give you more time to work on this campaign. Same place though, your apartment.”

“Thanks, Ma, you’re the best. I will still probably need to take work calls but yeah that would work better.”

“Okay, let me check something and call you back to confirm.”

“Sure.”

—

“This weekend? I’ve got to meet with Monster Energy to sign those papers remember? I’m sure you remember since you’re supposed to be there too.”

“That’s at lunch.”

“You’re really serious about making my life difficult huh?”

“Hey it’s your bed. You chose to lie in it.”

“Well…”

“Don’t. I don’t want to know. I really don’t.”

He snickers and makes kissy sounds on the phone. “Okay, Auntie. Schedule whatever. I can just ride there if I’m running late.”

“Don’t you dare. I want you to look presentable.”

“You do know the first time he ran after me, I was changing into my riding suit right? He saw me ride out of the carpark. And the second time, I’d just won my first race? He won’t care if I turn up like that.”

“He ran after you?”

“Yeah…back in New Zealand.”

There is silence on the other line for a fair few seconds before there is a sudden explosion.

“Wang Yibo, you were 16…maybe 17 in New Zealand when you could ride that thing!”

“Mn. And legal,” he ends with a smirk. “I need to ride.”

“Your mother is going to kill me. Then kill you. Then kill Xiao Zhan, I swear.”

“Don’t tell her then. Bye, auntie.”

She stares at her empty phone. “Don’t tell her? Are you mad?”

Sighing at the pile of paperwork on her desk from the Monster Energy reps who had sent over the contract in advance, she shakes her head and reaches for her phone to call Mrs Xiao to confirm the date.

**~~~**

“Oh my god what did you do to your hair?”

“My hair?” Xiao Zhan steps aside to let his horrified mother into his apartment. He runs his hand self-consciously through his shorn locks. “Ah, someone’s kid had lice and brought it to the office. All of us cut our hair just in case. I think Zizi is still thanking the Heavens she was away on a business trip when it happened.”

She walks past and stops dead, leaning into her son before stepping away, if possible, even more horrified than she was when he first opened the door.

“Xiao Zhan,” her voice is dire. “Why can I smell you?”

He sniffs himself, scrunching his nose as he shuts the door and turns to her. “I don’t smell _that bad_ he defends himself as they head into the apartment together. I haven’t had a shower today…and maybe yesterday because of work but—”

“You smell like you…and hotpot…and something fried.” She stops again and eyes him up and down shaking her head. “You look like some military cadet rather than a CEO of a successful graphics design company.” She shakes her head again and sighs at her handsome son who right now looks about 21 at most. “I invited your match for dinner. He should be here within half an hour.”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes goggle as he stares at his mother in disbelief. “You did what?!”

“Yeah,” she smiles slightly. “I did tell you about it.”

“Ma, you said I had just one match and that the matchmaker had declared it a sure thing, not that this match was coming for dinner!” Xiao Zhan spins on his heels and dashes off in a hurry. “Mama! I can’t believe you!” Xiao Zhan is taking the stairs in his apartment two at a time. “Watch that pot and make sure it doesn’t boil over please. I have to shower and change.”

“I never expected my son to not be showered or dressed properly for dinner with the human who birthed him! What kind of welcome is this?”

Xiao Zhan reappears at the top of the open plan mezzanine master bedroom topless. “Mama, I told you I was busy!”

“Doesn’t mean you stop eating or showering or even changing oh my god. What did I do wrong?” She watches as he leans over the rail, his long body too lean and thin for her liking as his mother but, as she observes him objectively, she admits his proportions would likely appeal to this professional racer slash model. 

“Ma, I’m sorry. I’m just a little stressed. It’s fine. I hope he likes spicy food then cos I only made hotpot and not much else.” He pushes himself away, turning and disappearing from her sight.

Recalling that Wang Yibo spent most of his life in New Zealand, she highly doubts it. Resigned that the night will be a failure and grateful the matchmaker had returned her money because this really is a mess of some significant proportion, she goes to the stove to stir the soup she taught her son to make. “Watch that pot indeed,” she chuckles to herself. “What a hopeless child. I don’t think this Wang Yibo would do any good but what’s done is done.”

—

Xiao Zhan lets the hot water pour over him. The sting is just bordering on the side of pain as he stares down at the water swirling down the drain. He had hoped the heat of the water would distract him but no such luck. His eyes are warm, too warm. He cannot tell the heat from the water over the heat of his regretful tears. 

Why hadn’t he tried to look for him? 

Why couldn’t he have just asked for his number?

Why did he just hope that they will bump into each other again? 

Why didn’t he take up Lulu’s offer to ask around about him since she found out he modelled part time?

Why, why, why, why?

He’s still unsure why he is so affected by the other man. Lulu and Ziyi had tried to explain that sometimes when you meet _the one_ you just know. They had gotten married within a month of meeting, an uncharacteristic move on both their parts. Even Ziyi had been pretty adamant that he should at least attempt to look him up and apologise at least for missing that race even though it wasn’t his fault. That guys like him are not a dime-a-dozen and if he just hopes for serendipity to play her part then he might end up disappointed. 

Interestingly enough, Lulu was of a different mind, not agreeing with her spouse, believing that if it was truly meant to be, that it will happen. Though she had warned Xiao Zhan that if he let Wang Yibo slip through his fingers for the fourth time, she will skin him alive herself. To hell with dignity or shyness, just go hard or go home. 

Breathing out shakily through his mouth, Xiao Zhan blinks at the swirling drain. And now his mother has stepped in and apparently found him a match that is basically a sure thing according to the matchmaker. The sheer audacity of someone to presume such a thing had already made him angry in the first instance, but now he is apprehensive. He wants to forget Yibo if it is not meant to be but seeing as Ziyi is also right and that he never even gave it a proper chance, he doesn’t want to substitute him with someone and regret it for however long he will. Even now, the bitter taste of regret is thick on his tongue, practically choking him. He can’t subject someone else to this when he is himself not quite over it. 

Leaning back to let the hot water pour over his face, washing away his tears, he thinks back at their last meeting and the quiet away Yibo had said _ask me again next month_. 

He clenches and unclenches his fist, finally resolving to do it. His mother has forced his hand and he will get through this dinner but if nothing else, it will only serve to strengthen his resolve to hunt the man down and _ask him_ , even though it is now 15 months later. He will ask because he will not be able to move on with anyone else otherwise no matter what he thinks. 

And he will accept Yibo’s answer whatever it might be though deep down he desperately hopes he isn’t too late.

—

Mrs Xiao stares at the young man standing before her. He is dressed in black motorcycle leathers with highlighter strips across key areas of his body to ensure visibility despite his dark suit. Holding a bright green helmet under his arm and a bouquet of flowers and a box of something or other in his other, she takes him in and gets a little mad at the matchmaker _because his photos did not do him a single ounce of justice_. She had thought him attractive enough but the man standing before her is absolutely stunning.

Hair mussed from being ruffled to get rid of his helmet head, phoenix eyes intent and dark with a maturity she had not expected from someone still a teenager with a diamond jawline and features so delicate yet masculine that she does not realise she is staring until the man speaks.

“Mrs Xiao?”

His voice. Of course he had to sound like that too. A voice much lower than expected, rather compelling in fact. If this man matched anyone, it would be a sure thing only if _he_ was interested as well because no one in their right mind, male or female would be able to resist him.

Her son is good looking as well but as a mother she doesn’t see him from the viewpoint of a prospective partner. Looking at this young man though, she fervently hopes her son does. In fact, she isn’t sure how he wouldn’t. There’s something magnetic, almost animalistic about him like he may look stoic and still waters run deep.

“Yes, yes, I’m so sorry where are my manners?” She chuckles self-deprecatingly. “I’m sure you get this a lot, people staring at you. I’m really sorry to be one of them. You took me by surprise is all,” she ushers him into the apartment, only stopping when he stops.

“This is for you,” he holds out the bouquet a little awkwardly. “Thank you for considering me. I know you were concerned about my age.”

She takes the bouquet and waves him off equally awkwardly. “Ah, it’s no worry. I should not have made any judgment without meeting you.”

“You’re not concerned anymore?” He asks, a little lilt in his voice. 

It is that unexpected teasing tone that makes her pay attention and she sees the humour in his eyes and the way the corner of his mouth tugs up slightly. 

“Ah, well…” she flushes slightly. The man is extremely disconcerting especially when he gives you his whole attention. “My son is young at heart and you don’t seem to look or behave like a teenager. My own son would never think to bring me flowers.”

“Perhaps I just want you to have a good impression of me,” he chuckles and holds out the box. “Some preserved fruit for dessert perhaps. I had these delivered downstairs and collected them on my way up.”

She smiles, unable to help herself. “Well, if that was your intention, you’re doing a good job.”

“Is there a bathroom somewhere?” He tugs at the strap across his chest, expression slightly sheepish. “I had a work thing that ran long and had to ride straight here. I have clothes so I can change out of my leathers. I’m not fit for any dining table in my current condition.”

Mrs Xiao laughs heartily at that, remember the state her son was in earlier. “Well, you’d be better than my son that’s for sure. He’s upstairs showering.” She misses the glint in the younger man’s eyes as she continues. “There’s a guest bedroom down here with an attached bathroom. You can get comfortable there and leave your leathers hanging if you need to.”

“Thank you,” Yibo replies, his head already tilted upwards towards the open mezzanine floor. 

He places his helmet on a side table after getting approval from Mrs Xiao before following her to the guest bedroom.

—

Xiao Zhan comes down the stairs to his mother singing cheerfully as she sets up the hot pot on his small dining table. While he can be social when needed, he prefers his privacy and apart from his mother, Ziyi and Lulu, no one else has been inside his apartment. The dining table is a compact circular marble table that will comfortably sit five, six if needed. 

He is really glad he is on level ground when he sights the helmet otherwise he might have tripped the rest of the way down the stairs. 

Swallowing hard, he is unable to take his eyes off the bright green. It is a very familiar shade of bright green although there is no Tracer 85 that he can see on it from where he is standing. He really needs to get a fucking grip. He is starting to see spectres of the man in everything related to him.

“Ma…why is there a helmet on the side table?”

She just beams at him from her spot. “Your match is here.”

“He rides?” He hurries to her side to help her set up. “Wait…he’s here?”

“In the guest room. He rode here and was in his _leathers_ ,” she titters a little. “Gosh how does a word sound so interesting. He’s refreshing himself and changing out of them. Such a nice boy,” she sends him a sidelong look. “Why are you looking so flustered? You haven’t even met him yet?”

“I…uh…it’s nothing just I’ve never had a stranger in my house.”

“Oh, he’s not a gold digger for sure. He has his own income. I checked,” she replies airily. “He makes a lot of money from endorsements and such.”

_Endorsements_? Xiao Zhan is starting to hear a ringing in his own ears. “What…what does he do?” Xiao Zhan is sure his voice sounds just as high as it sounds to his own ears. “You said this match was a sure thing?”

She pauses and turns to her son, finally noticing that he had put on a neat grey suit but had left the top button of his shirt unbuttoned to make it less formal. “Aiya…of all days why did you choose today to look your age.”

“Huh?” Xiao Zhan pats down the front of his jacket self-consciously. “Do you want me to change?”

She looks critically at him from the top of his short hair down to his bare feet peeking out from under the bespoke pants. “No,” she admits. “You look good. Very handsome. You two definitely match in looks at least.”

“Mama?”

Mrs Xiao leans in and whispers to her bemused son. “He’s _very handsome_. In fact, the photos I saw did not do him justice at all.”

“Why would he need a matchmaker then?” Xiao Zhan asks suspiciously.

Huffing, she smacks her son on a shoulder. “I could ask you the same thing. Both of you are apparently too busy to meet people so now you’re stuck with each other.” She clasps her hands dreamily. “And both of you don’t mind surrogacy. Imagine all your beautiful children…”

Xiao Zhan coughs uncomfortably, looking around to see if some strange handsome guy is going to appear out of the blue and overhear her shameless words. “Ma,” he hisses under his breath. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves please. I haven’t even met him and you didn’t answer my original question. What does he do?”

“Oh,” her face falters slightly. “Well, I’m not sure how you’re going to take this but…he’s a professional athlete.”

“An athlete?” His jaw drops, slightly aghast. “No wonder the matchmaker returned your money. How would I match with an athlete? I don’t even like sports.”

“Now now,” she pats his chest. “Don’t be too hasty. He speaks four languages so he’s not a dumb jock or whatever and he’s a very considerate boy.” She points at the vase of flowers on the kitchen counter. “He even brought me a bouquet. Daisies.”

“Four?”

“Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean. Apparently he picked up Japanese and Korean from other bikers and from anime and k-dramas his mother likes to watch but he speaks English because he lived in New Zealand for most of his life.”

Xiao Zhan’s hand tightens over the bowl he is holding, his eyes wide on his mother’s bright and happy face as an absolutely impossible hope explodes in his chest. “What’s his name?”

She cocks her head curiously at him. “I didn’t tell you?”

“No, Mama. You didn’t. Not once.”

“His name is Wang Yibo.”

—

Yibo is pacing the guest bedroom. He is dressed and ready but all of a sudden he’s seriously second guessing himself. This apartment screams adult. Xiao Zhan is 30. There is over a decade separating them. What the hell was he thinking assuming this would actually work? It’s not fair that he should look in his early 20s though in all fairness, Yibo is pretty fucking certain Xiao Zhan had no idea how old he was either and he does look like he’s in his early 20s too.

He checks the Rolex on his wrist and the butterflies in his stomach get worse. Okay, maybe he didn’t quite think this one through. What if Xiao Zhan didn’t come to the race because he didn’t want to? What if he didn’t want to know his answer? He needs closure if nothing else. If there really wasn’t something and if it was just his imagination, at least tonight will lay that to rest though he knows. He knows deep down that he will not be able to let go without a proper decent attempt. Xiao Zhan had approached him three times, he can return the favour. He just needs an indication, a sign. Something. Anything.

Fiddling with the necklace around his neck, his jaw tenses as he remembers the gorgeous smile and the pretty sprinkling of moles and how Xiao Zhan couldn’t take his eyes off the lollipop in his mouth.

_Lollipop._

He fumbles the pockets of his jeans and turns up empty. Going to his bag, he rummages in it, and nearly crows in relief when he finds one. Not caring that he’s about to have dinner, he unwraps the sweet, the loud crinkling of the wrapper masking the soft knock on the door and he pops it into his mouth, tossing the empty wrapper back into his bag just as a soft voice behind him speaks.

“You.”

Yibo pivots very slowly at the soft word, sucking industriously at the lollipop to help steady his growing nerves. He can’t even tell if the _you_ was a happy you or a _what the actual fuck are you doing in my home_ you.

When their eyes meet, blood starts rushing, pounding in his ears, a reverberating thrumming as he stares at the handsome man looking at him with an almost helpless expression.

Pulling out the lollipop, Yibo licks his bottom lip, tracking that Xiao Zhan is following it before he speaks.

“Gege.”

Xiao Zhan makes an odd bitten off sound, his hands clenching and unclenching at his side as he stares at the stunning brunette. Yibo is wearing black jeans with a white teeshirt tucked in at the front but untucked at the back topped off by a letterman jacket. A simple black and white style and yet the man shines like a beacon, his light so strong yet Xiao Zhan is worried about looking away lest he disappears.

Yibo moves first, crossing the short distance between them and stopping just shy of their bodies touching. Even without the contact, they are still well in each other’s personal space and he tilts his head, his eyes running over Xiao Zhan’s features before looking up at his hairline and beyond. “Nice hair,” he remarks with a smirk before he pops the lollipop back into his mouth.

The CEO can _smell_ the watermelon candy. The artificial sweetness triggering a lot of things within himself he is trying to control. However, everything is currently secondary to the fact that he just saw something. His hand moves of its own volition and he has his fingers around the familiar ox head necklace before he can stop himself.

“You’re wearing it.”

“I’ve never taken it off,” he speaks around the lollipop.

Xiao Zhan’s eyes slide up to Yibo’s and meets his level, penetrating gaze. “We need to talk.”

Yibo’s mouth tugs in amusement and he pulls out the lollipop. “Maybe after dinner? Your mother is here.” He pauses for a second. “Do we tell her?”

He shakes his head immediately. “No. We tell her after.”

“After?” 

The older man nods. “Yes, after. She’s already planning our kids out there so consider this fair warning.”

The model’s mouth curves upwards into a wider smile. “I think she likes me. But after what exactly?”

“After we get married.”

“Wow,” Yibo exhales with the word before chuckling and nudging Xiao Zhan gently with his arm. “Look at you. You went from trying and failing to ask me out to telling me we’re getting married.”

“Do I need to ask?” Xiao Zhan’s asks in amusement. “Why would anyone agree to a matchmaking dinner if marriage wasn’t on the table? The matchmaker did promise that this was a sure thing.”

“She did, huh?” Yibo’s grin is getting wider. “Well, she’s right.” 

Yibo pops the lollipop back into his mouth but he doesn’t have it for long, rendered absolutely speechless when the candy is stolen from him when Xiao Zhan leans down to press their mouths together briefly, sucking and scooping the lollipop right out and into his own mouth before leaning back and looking too damn pleased with himself.

“Think you’re so slick, huh?” Yibo’s eyebrow goes up in question as Xiao Zhan smiles so fully his eyes disappear into cute little half moons.

Someone knocks on the door just then and both men fly apart even though they weren’t even touching then. The door opens and Mrs Xiao pops her head into the room curiously.

“What’s taking so long?” Then she catches sight of her son and she squints at him. “Zhanzhan? Why are you eating a lollipop before dinner?” Her eyes narrow. “Where on earth did you get a lollipop from in the first place?”

Yibo bursts out laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol…I was somewhat done at 23,000+ words but looking at the word count now, it’s probably gonna be 30k at least. One day I shall post without re-reading and it’ll be short. SHORT.


	3. A sure thing

Yibo is following behind mother and son, snickering quietly because it’s not like Xiao Zhan can return his lollipop without his mother raising even more eyebrows than she has already raised. She is nagging at him about spoiling his dinner and the older man keeps throwing betrayed looks over his shoulder while he listens to his mother, all while industriously sucking on that lollipop.

“Aiya, Yibo, I’m so sorry. I told you my son is young at heart. This is a prime example.” She waves exasperatedly at a properly contrite Xiao Zhan who is contemplating whether to bite down on the lollipop to finish it quicker. She moves to the dining table and offers Yibo a seat. “I might have sprung this dinner on my son,” she admits. “So the food may not be to your taste. Let us know if it’s a problem and I can make an order.”

Yibo shakes his head immediately. “No, no, don’t worry.” He leans over the table to look at the hotpot and even the smell nearly burns his nose hair. It takes quite a lot to hide his grimace but he does and decides that he’ll take one for the team. “Do you have any milk though?”

“Lucky for you, I just had groceries delivered so I have an untouched bottle. Are you sure we shouldn’t order though?” Xiao Zhan’s expression is concerned, gesturing with the half eaten lollipop as he heads to the fridge to get the milk. 

“It’s fine, gege.” Yibo replies unthinkingly as he returns his attention to the pot of death. He is distracted by the giant bushel of coriander and he beams at it, happy to see something familiar that will likely not try to kill him. There’s also a very good selection of meat and vegetables, noting a reasonable amount of tripe. He moves one seat over to sit near that plate, smiling to himself as he looks forward to the clearly home cooked meal. He’s not home at the right time enough to be able to have regular home cooked meals with his mother and he definitely misses that. 

For all his occupations, he has always been a homebody, preferring to stay home and play with his LEGO than going out partying. His parents have always left him to figure things out on his own, yet ensuring he is aware that they are there for him to lean on as he learns from his mistakes. He’s never felt the need to fit in regardless, rarely affected by peer pressure by the easy fact that he’s good looking enough and any teenager with access to a car is always going to be popular especially since said car was a neon green Subaru Impreza WRX and he was a well-known street racer while in New Zealand for both cars and motorbikes. He had been scouted at one of these illegal races and the ink had barely dried on the contract when he had been effectively _asked_ to leave New Zealand.

Mrs Xiao catches the exchange, her eyebrows at her hairline. Yibo’s smile transforms his face immensely too, still painfully handsome, beautiful even, but he looks younger and more approachable when he smiles. Her mind is still on the soft _gege_ though, and she looks at her son who doesn’t seem to have thought anything of it. She watches him pour out some milk into a very large glass before going to the bread bin to get some bread rolls. For a Chinese boy who cooks very traditional food, he enjoys his western pastries and bread thanks to an exchange during his college years that introduced him to the wonders of fluffy pastry and well-made bread. 

She says nothing when Xiao Zhan sits in the empty seat next to Yibo, taking in the bright smile the teenager gives her son when handed the dish of bread and glass of milk. Nor does she say anything when her son’s ears turn pink and he fusses over the dishes to give his hands something to do, still sucking on that lollipop that had magicked itself out of nowhere.

Taking a seat opposite them to give herself a better view, she is re-thinking her earlier assessment that this would be a disaster. The matchmaker had been right. Apparently Wang Yibo is exactly what her son needs.

Who would have thought?

They begin putting meat and vegetables into the pot. 

“I’m sorry I don’t have an individual pot for you. I could have watered down the soup,” Xiao Zhan remarks after crunching down the last of the lollipop, looking a little distressed as Yibo stares at the bubbling redness of the large pot in the middle of the table.

The teenager turns fully to the other man with a small smile. “Seriously, it’s okay. I’ve got milk and bread. I’ll just make sure I don’t actually drink the soup and just take whatever is on the meat and vegetables. I might not be able to ride for awhile after though since i’m probably going to be eating more carbs than protein and I definitely will not want to revisit my meal!”

“You can stay as long as you want,” Mrs Xiao replies with a concerned expression. “I have to go soon but I’m sure Zhanzhan can keep you company.”

“Ma…” Xiao Zhan is staring at his mother, asking with his eyes - _what are you doing?_

She ignores him and continues to talk as she dumps more coriander and tripe into the pot having seen the way the teenager’s eyes lit up. “Do you prefer meat or seafood hotpot?”

“I don’t mind either,” Yibo replies with an easy smile. Mrs Xiao really seems to like him and he’s grateful for that even though he’s never really had a problem with older people, used to their company now since leaving New Zealand. Those that know him always seem to dote on him despite his generally frosty first impression, from the Yamaha crew to the staff at all his shoots. They all seem protective even, maybe since he is always the youngest in any group. 

“Zhanzhan prefers meat because he’s too lazy to peel the prawns.” She explains. “Which is why there’s no seafood here so I’m glad you said you don’t mind.”

Yibo’s smile widen in anticipation as he accepts the cooked tripe and coriander plus a few other pieces of something or other from Mrs Xiao. “I don’t mind peeling prawns either.” He eyes the red hue on the items on the side plate he had used to collect the food. The red soup is bleeding onto the white dish and even though there’s hardly any soup, the strong sharp smell is definitely making his nose twitch. He continues talking as he contemplates how he’s going to eat his food without choking. “Or crabs, or lobster. I don’t really mind doing the work. Just don’t make me to the cooking.” He chuckles suddenly. “My mother tried to teach me how to make chicken soup over video cam because she was back in New Zealand and I had returned home earlier than expected. Halfway through I think she almost cried while my dad just died laughing in the background. She told me to turn everything off and call Auntie to come and save me before I gave myself salmonella poisoning.”

“Oh my boy! Did you get sick?” She pauses her dishing to look at him. “Zhanzhan is a very good cook. He made this.”

“Really?” Yibo takes a closer look at his food. “Wow, gege. So talented. A CEO who can cook. I bet there’s not many of you around.”

“There isn’t,” Mrs Xiao replies firmly. “My son is unique.”

Yibo hums in agreement, finally deciding that his food is not going to attack him after most of the liquid seems to have drained off the meat thanks to gravity. Picking up a piece of meat and some coriander and an unidentifiable piece of some weird looking vegetable he’s never seen before in his life, he places them on his bowl of rice.

Rice that immediately takes on a reddish hue on contact, much to his horror as he swallows thickly, his throat suddenly dry. His apprehension must have shown on his face because Xiao Zhan touches his arm gently. 

“Here,” Xiao Zhan hands him the glass of milk he had poured earlier. “Maybe lining your tongue with dairy will help,” his expression is both amused and apologetic. “You look like you expect it to murder you,” he chuckles. “If you need it, I can go heat up some leftover chicken stock so you can use it as a dip to rinse off your hotpot.”

Yibo doesn’t reply but he nods in thanks, accepting the glass of milk gratefully, taking a sip and swirling the cold milk in his mouth before he picks up a piece of meat and puts it in his mouth.

The flavour is slightly different to what he’s used to. A little sour but he loves sour so that isn’t a bad thing. It is very flavoursome and quite tasty and as he starts to swallow, he thinks—

“Holy shit.” He coughs, picking up his bowl as his eyes water and he starts shovelling rice into his mouth, not really caring if he looks quite undignified doing it. He is certain his mouth just went up in flames. He’s on his fourth mouthful of rice, when he finally registers the warm hand rubbing his lower back gently. Putting his bowl down, still chewing, he leans back into the hand and picks up his glass of milk, washing his mouthful down with the entire glass.

Mrs Xiao is staring at the poor teenager, her original hopes sinking a little. She hopes this isn’t a deal breaker for the younger man but he honestly looks pained. She can barely manage an _oh dear_ as she wonders how to salvage this. The problem is, Xiao Zhan loves spicy food. He _always_ cooks his food like this and she cannot rightfully lie to the poor child who finally actually looks human for once with his shiny red face and gasping mouth. His tongue is practically hanging out of his mouth, the poor thing!

“I think that’s an understatement, Mama,” Xiao Zhan laughs quietly before turning to the sweaty red-faced teenager. “I’ll heat the chicken stock okay? It’s part of the base for the soup anyway and I always make enough to freeze so the flavour will go together.”

“Mn.” Yibo nods, not trusting himself to talk just yet. He misses the hand on his back when Xiao Zhan gets up to get behind the kitchen counter but he knows the man will return. Standing up he shrugs off his jacket, suddenly feeling much too warm for multiple layers. He remembers his manners enough to pick up the napkin by his bowl instead of using his teeshirt. Honestly he feels way too hot to even be clothed and if Mrs Xiao wasn’t there, he would most definitely have pulled his teeshirt off. Who eats food like this?

He drapes his jacket over the back of his chair, before picking up a bread roll while listening to Mama Xiao and Xiao Zhan bantering back and forth, a small smile on his lips despite the pain in his mouth. Walking around the large island to get behind the counter and join Xiao Zhan who is stirring something in a small pot, he asks quietly. “Can I help?”

Xiao Zhan’s smile is fond as he shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. I just need to heat the stock.”

Yibo eyes him up and down, taking in the suit and he hums. “Okay but give me your jacket at least. It looks expensive and you don’t really want to smell like food.” He stuffs his bread roll in his mouth, holding it there as he tugs at Xiao Zhan’s jacket, helping him to shrug it off. He then walks out of the kitchen area, casually munching his bread roll with Xiao Zhan’s jacket held carefully in his other hand and disappears into the guest bedroom. 

Xiao Zhan catches sight of his mother’s face and tries to ignore the grin.

“So…”

“Later, Ma.”

“This was a good idea, wasn’t it?”

“I’m not going to say it. You’ll gloat for years.”

“I don’t have to say anything. I can _see_ it.”

Well she definitely has him there. They sort of agreed not to tell her yet but he’s not going to control his own interactions. Let her think what she wants.

Catching sight of Yibo’s own jacket draped carelessly over the back of the dining chair and recognising the brand, Xiao Zhan points to it when Yibo comes out of the room empty-handed. “Shouldn’t you hang up your jacket too? I’m actually pretty sure your jacket cost more than mine, bespoke or not.”

“Gege, we’re not married yet and you’re nagging at me already?” Yibo throws at him with a teasing lilt in his voice but he obediently picks up his jacket and retraces his steps back to the guest bedroom with no further complaint.

Xiao Zhan flushes at the easy words from the younger man and he catches his mother’s gobsmacked expression. He knows they are acting way too familiar for an initial meeting and if Yibo keeps it up, his mother might dig it out of both of them. The only thing going in his favour at the moment is that his mother is a lot more reserved than he is though she is still more open than most of those in their acquaintance. 

“Yet? Not married yet? Did you two have a conversation without me? And that _gege_ is…” she trails off, staring up at her son standing in the middle of his large open-plan kitchen. 

“What else is he supposed to call me?” Xiao Zhan asks, deciding to ignore the first part, hoping his ears aren’t betraying him although he is pretty fucking sure they are. He can feel the heat that has nothing to do with the liquid he is stirring over the stove. 

She hums. “Zhan-ge might be more appropriate. _Gege_ implies a lot more and especially with what he said following that.”

“Do you care about this implication?” He asks pointedly at his beaming mother.

“Oh no. I’m just saying…what would people think?”

“They can think whatever they want,” Xiao Zhan turns the stove off when the stock starts bubbling gently and he dishes out the liquid into a double-walled vacuum food flask so it will retain a reasonable amount of heat despite not being closed. “Whatever they’re thinking is probably going to be right anyway.” He rolls his eyes at his mother’s smug expression, returning to the table to take Yibo’s empty glass of milk to refill it.

He returns to the dining table again at the same time as Yibo who leans bodily into him and squeezes his elbow in thanks. His elbow around the _other side_ of his body. The younger man had basically hugged him with one arm. Xiao Zhan can practically feel his mother’s sharp eyes boring into them as she watches their oddly tactile guest. The thing is, Xiao Zhan is very physical as well so the touches are from unwelcome and he is certain his mother knows that too.

Xiao Zhan points to the plate of meat and veges his mother had dished while they were both busy. “Dip your food in the flask for abit. You should be fine now.”

“Thank you, gege.” Yibo smiles happily before returning his attention to his food. 

His first mouthful had been a success not just in the fact that he can withstand the flavour without downing an entire glass of milk again, but he had spent the next few minutes waxing lyrical about the taste. Never one to say more than he means, his sincerity is crystal clear to both Xiaos as he happily accepts more meat and veggies (both known and unknown), dunking them all in the broth Xiao Zhan had prepared for him to wash off the heat.

“Okay, now?” Xiao Zhan asks, watching the younger man eat for the past few minutes, his own bowl barely touched, revelling in the fact that Yibo is genuinely enjoying his cooking. As a proper cook, he loves it when people enjoy his food and that feeds him.

Yibo nods, chewing slowly when he notices Xiao Zhan’s mostly full bowl of rice. Swallowing hastily, he asks. “Why aren’t you eating?” He immediately starts picking up cooked pieces of meat and vegetables for the other man and piling it onto his near impeccable mount of white rice that betrays his lack of attention towards it. “Eat, gege!” He orders sternly. “If not, I’ll stop eating too.” He places his chopsticks down with a small huff and stares expectantly at the older man. 

Mrs Xiao’s eyebrows meet her hairline for the nth time that evening as she watches the teenager pout at her helpless son. She hides a smile at the expression on her son’s face. Xiao Zhan is gone. Totally gone. She can see it in his eyes and it appears the younger man definitely reciprocates. She most certainly intends on making her leave once dinner is done because judging from the way the two of them are acting, she’s going to be a third wheel if she isn’t one already.

Her son will definitely be eating his meals properly at least, watching in amusement as Xiao Zhan hastily starts to eat under the watchful eye of the racer slash model who waits until he has ingested at least three mouthfuls before he picks up his own chopsticks again, a smugly satisfied smile playing about his lips.

—

“You really don’t have to go.” Yibo insists as he wipes down the dining table while Xiao Zhan potters about the kitchen putting away the leftovers. “At least try the dried fruit? It was recommended to me so I hope it’s nice. I’ve never tried it myself but I trust the source of the recommendation.”

“It’s okay, I arranged to meet with the matchmaker.”

Xiao Zhan pauses in his packing, as does Yibo, both turned towards her with curiosity mirrored on each of their faces. 

“For someone who’s not being paid for her services, the matchmaker seems to be giving you a lot of her time.” Xiao Zhan comments, sneaking a look at Yibo who’s expression is perfectly blank. Odd considering how open he’s been all night but he doesn’t think much of it. 

Mrs Xiao shrugs. “She requested a debrief after the dinner and I agreed. I guess I should probably offer to pay her after all seeing as while she only did find _one_ match,” she pauses, gaze flitting towards Yibo whose expression has turned stoic. “She was right to push it through.”

“I think you should just leave it.” Xiao Zhan speaks up. 

“I agree.” Yibo nods. “She won’t accept your money probably regardless.” He smiles then. “I hope you have nice things to say to her about dinner.”

She walks over to him and pats his cheek fondly. “Don’t worry. Nothing but nice things.”

Yibo grins and ducks his chin, nodding before picking up the cloth and returning to the kitchen.

“Ge, leave the dishes. I’ll do them.”

“You’re my guest.”

“I’m a guest with manners. My mama wouldn’t hear of it. Just leave them, it’s fine. I’m used to doing the dishes since she says that I don’t cook, I should be able to clean at least.” He turns to the other man with a smile. “I know how to clean,” he grins cheerfully. “And fold clothes. Bet I can fold clothes faster than you.”

Feeling a little like he’s losing control of the situation, Xiao Zhan hazards a reply, fully aware of his mother’s amusement practically rolling off her in waves. “Why…why would you want a clothes folding competition?”

“Why not?” Yibo asks jauntily. “I’m good at it so it’s a sure win. I like winning.”

“Okay, baobei, you win then.” Xiao Zhan shakes his head exasperatedly before returning to the leftovers. “Ma, do you want some food?”

“No,” she is watching the blush on the teenager at the endearment her son has evidently not noticed himself using. She is amused to find him suddenly very interested in the dishes. Her work is definitely done. She’ll give the matchmaker a token red packet if nothing else. She couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to the dinner tonight. In fact, she would have accepted painfully stilted polite conversation over dinner as a win, not the easy banter they had fallen into for the past hour, her son and the teenager so comfortable with each other they had even started picking food off each other’s plates without thought. “No, I’m meeting Madam Kim-Jung, remember? I’m not carrying food around, aiya, Zhanzhan.” Her fondness bleeds through her exasperation. “Now come here and give your mama a kiss.”

Scrunching his nose cutely while Yibo snickers from behind him, already starting on the dishes. He looks over his shoulder to bare his teeth at the younger man who sticks out his tongue at him. 

“You’re going to regret that.”

“I’m sure I won’t.” Yibo smirks before shooing him off. “Go on _Zhanzhan_. Mama needs her kiss.”

“Youth these days have no manners.”

“Yes, Lao Xiao,” Yibo agrees with a laugh before returning his attention to the stack of dishes. 

“Zhanzhan,” Mrs Xiao hisses quietly, tugging her son by the wrist and pulling him into the foyer and out of sight of the kitchen. “Why are you reminding him of the age gap?”

Staring down at his mother in confusion, Xiao Zhan cocks his head. “Age gap?”

“Oh god, you don’t know…” she trails off, a little horrified at her own oversight. “How old do you think he is?” 

“I don’t know…early to mid 20s? I guess there’s still an age gap but none you should be so concerned about.”

“Xiao Zhan,” she pats his arm. “Please keep your reaction quiet…” she doesn’t continue until he nods despite the confusion she can see in his eyes. “He’s nineteen.”

He starts laughing then, quiet laughter but still laughter. “Don’t joke, Mama.”

“I’m not joking,” she smacks him lightly. “Why would I joke about such a thing?”

Xiao Zhan sobers up immediately. “Wait…you’re serious?”

She nods. “Don’t make a big deal of it please. He thanked me for accepting the match when he arrived even though he knew I was concerned about his age and it’s not his fault. The matchmaker was right though, the two of you really are a sure thing. Don’t let his age get in the way please.”

His mind whirring madly he just nods, leaning down to kiss his mother on both cheeks. “I’ll try.”

“Don’t try. Do.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Such a good boy,” she pats his cheek. “Now…enjoy the rest of your evening.” 

Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes at the shit-eating grin his own flesh and blood is giving him before closing the door on her. Turning around, he wanders over to the helmet, picking it up to look for the Tracer 85 logo and he finds it at the back on the base of the helmet. It is a lot smaller than usual, but it is definitely there.

“That’s not my racing helmet but I had it customised with my colours.” 

“It’s very well done,” Xiao Zhan approves of the way the different shades contrast yet keeps the cohesion of his design which stands out at the back. Returning the helmet to the side table he heads back to the kitchen, surprised to find Yibo almost done. “That’s fast.”

“You’ve got running hot water here. It makes it a lot easier to clean.”

Xiao Zhan goes over to the sink, surprised to find the dishes sitting in water. 

“Isn’t that dirty water?”

Yibo shakes his head and he finishes the rest of the dishes, explaining why he does it the way he does. “I plug an empty sink and soap everything up. Then I use a new sponge and rinse under the running hot water into the empty sink over the dishes. I suppose technically they are sitting in dirty water but I use the clean sponge to go over it under the hot water. This way I can do it quicker and use less water because the dishes sitting in the sink being splashed would mostly be clean anyway by the time I get to them. You can do a quality check if you’re concerned,” he offers. “I never do this with cold water though and no one’s every gotten sick from my dishes so I’m sure it’s fine.”

Xiao Zhan doesn’t check the dishes. He does check Yibo out though. “You’re wet.”

The teenager huffs. “Well, doing dishes will cause that. I used to get wet even stacking a dishwasher.”

“Ah…back in New Zealand?”

“Mn.” Yibo nods and turns away, rinsing the last of the utensils and unplugging the sink. He looks down at himself and laughs. “Well…white teeshirt and water wasn’t the best idea I guess.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Pervert.” Yibo shoulders past him. “I’ll change.”

“Exactly how many items of clothes did you bring?”

Yibo turns, walking backwards slowly with a big smile. “Who knows? Maybe I brought enough for the night.” He tugs at the scruff of his teeshirt and pulls it off before he reaches the bedroom, laughing loudly at the poleaxed expression on Xiao Zhan’s face.

“Nineteen…Xiao Zhan he’s nineteen. Nine fucking teen. Get a hold of yourself,” he mutters to himself, staring at the space that once housed a half naked teenager who has the body of a man.

Clearly his cock has other ideas as he tries to talk it (and himself) down, the memory of Yibo’s laughter still echoing in his ears while he would likely need actual bleach to get rid of the image burned into his retinas of the younger man’s broad solid body. He wants to lick his abs and figure out if he has six or eight because the glimpse was just that, a glimpse. He wants to feel those hard lines pressing against his back as Yibo rocks into him.

Biting his lip to the point of pain, he exhales slowly trying to rearrange his thoughts but he doesn’t succeed very well, the previous images taunting him in technicolour. All he needs are the actual sounds to go with his overactive imagination. Clearly he’s been alone for too damn long.

Coughing, choking maybe at the abrupt turn his thoughts had gotten to, he actually goes to stick his head in the freezer for a few seconds, feeling way too warm way too fast. The wrong head needs to be iced but this will do for now. The boy clearly knows his devastating effect. Untucking his shirt to cover the bulge in his pants, he shakes his head ruefully, deciding that alcohol right now would _not_ be a good idea. Needing something to do to distract himself before Yibo returns and makes his head whirl again, he takes out a plate and opens the box of dried preserved fruit, picking a few of each kind to have as dessert. Grateful for the teenager’s foresight since Xiao Zhan didn’t have dessert prepared, he hums to himself as he works.

He is still arranging fruit when he senses he is being watched. Looking up, he sees Yibo sitting on the bottom of the stairs that lead to the mezzanine floor. He has changed completely, no longer wearing jeans but loose track pants and an oversized Poseidon print Givenchy teeshirt. The sole reason Xiao Zhan is able to identify the teeshirt is not just because of its unique print but also because he had wanted it but had absolutely balked at the price. Who in their right mind paid over 3,000 for a teeshirt? A teeshirt.

A teeshirt.

“Nice teeshirt,” he finally manages to get out, closing the lid of the box of preserved fruit. “The price made my eyes water.”

“You can have it if you want,” Yibo offers with a grin as he reaches for the scruff. “Perks of the occupation. I didn’t pay for it.”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes widen. “No! No, no, no, it’s fine,” he replies, hastily averting his eyes. 

“Are you sure, gege?”

“Wang Yibo…”

“Xiao Zhan…” he mimics in the exact same tone. “Why are you so skittish anyway? I wasn’t going to give it to you now. My neck was itchy.” He smirks. “Or did you want me to give it to you now? I’m sure we can arrange something. Maybe your shirt in exchange?”

He is definitely feeling like he’s losing track of the conversation and decides that maybe it’s safer to let the conversation be lost and move on to something else. Focusing intently on his task of rearranging the fruit on the plate into a pleasing aesthetic, he scrunches his nose in concentration until he is finally satisfied with the end result, sucking on his fingertips as he eyes his handiwork.

Yibo lets the older man off the hook though he actually has to determinedly tell himself to _stop pushing_. His eyes narrow on the surprisingly small hands on a man so tall. He misses his lollipop all of a sudden. 

“Do you want tea, coffee or hot chocolate?”

“Beer?” Yibo counters, standing up and leaning against the rail.

Xiao Zhan shakes his head. “Not a good idea. Later?”

A small smirk appears. “Didn’t you want to get me a drink after my race? What’s changed?”

Huffing and rolling his eyes at the same time, Xiao Zhan shakes his head. “I regained my sanity, that’s what happened. Beer later, we need to talk.”

Hopping off the bottom step in an exaggerated jump and landing lightly, Yibo just shrugs. “Whatever you want. Water’s fine in that case. Caffeine will keep me up,” he reaches the kitchen counter slash island and leans over it with a wider smirk than earlier. “Unless of course you _want_ to keep me up?” He waggles his eyebrows and bursts out laughing again when Xiao Zhan’s jaw just drops in shock. “Pink is a good colour on you, gege,” he teases with a laugh.

“I’m this close to throwing this plate of fruit at your head so unless you want to pick up the pieces of a broken plate and wasted dessert, behave yourself.”

“Yes, gege!” Yibo salutes smartly, still grinning. “Where are we going?” He asks as he picks up the plate of fruit carefully so Xiao Zhan can handle the drinks.

“Other side of the stairs. Living room is over on that side.”

“Nice crib, by the way. Very…uh…adult.”

“I am an adult,” Xiao Zhan remarks, turning around to get a couple of glasses. “Just make yourself comfortable. Just water? I have tonic water.”

“Unless you’re mixing that with gin, no thanks,” Yibo replies airily as he disappears around the corner. 

Xiao Zhan wonders briefly what teenager knows about gin and tonic since it’s not exactly a cool or sexy drink. He can hear the teenager who isn’t silent at all by any stretch of the imagination, exclaiming over the size of the settee and the television and the bank of lights. He can hear the clicking switches as Yibo cackles at what happens with each switch. Judging by the light cast, he can tell when Yibo finds the dimmer, seemingly gleefully twisting the knobs backwards and forwards endlessly. He even hoots when he discovers something new. All the racket he is making makes Xiao Zhan feel warm inside. He never realised how quiet his apartment was until Yibo filled it with his noise. A good noise. His home suddenly feels alive. It has always been a sanctuary for him but it feels like it could be something more. 

He smiles fondly at his thoughts and as the teenager crows again and returns to getting their glasses of water before heading over, finding that Yibo is still not done with the lights when he gets there.

“Have you never seen lights before?” He asks as Yibo fiddles with the three dimmers.

“Not like this I haven’t. We can have a party here and have disco lighting. I mean, a genuine true to life _disco ball_ drops from your ceiling. My parents would love this and never want to leave! Why do you even have such an enormous amount of lights?”

“It’s a pretty big space.”

“Yeah, true but still. I counted thirty-three lights and gave up after that.” Finally settling on a light setting that he is happy with, somewhere between mood lighting and a proper amount of light for normal people to be able to see by, Yibo jumps onto the expansive couch and face plants on it with a loud yelp. Groaning in pain he twists to look at the amused older man, clutching at both his knees. “Who the fuck has couches that look so comfy but are hard as fucking rocks. I think I busted my knees.”

Xiao Zhan laughs, shaking his head and points to the corner. “If you hadn’t been so eager with the dimmer, you’d be able to see that there’s actually two couches. The one in the corner is comfy. The one on this end of the room is for people I don’t like.” 

“So they leave quickly because your couch is so fucking uncomfortable?” He groans as he drags himself slowly across to the other couch, moaning exaggeratedly in pain every time a knee comes into contact with anything. When he is finally in the corner, he collapses against the more comfortable couch, face planting into a large cushion as he rubs both his knees. Finally needing to breathe, he turns with a gasp, wearing a woebegone expression as he glares at the other couch before looking at the couch he is currently on. “Did you get two different couches upholstered the exact same way?”

“Smart,” Xiao Zhan places the drink on the coffee table in front of the corner settee and returns to pick up the abandoned plate of fruit from the side table. When he turns around, Yibo is basically sprawled over the corner of the very deep sofa, star fishing essentially as he whistles a familiar tune. 

“INXS?”

“Mhmmm. Surprised you know it.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You listen to rock music in English?” Yibo asks incredulously and maybe just a smidge of disbelief in there somewhere.

Rolling his eyes again, Xiao Zhan takes his phone out and turns his speakers on. He puts the song on in seconds and starts to sing along.

_Don’t ask me  
What you know is true  
Don’t have to tell you  
I love your precious heart_

Yibo wolf whistles, hooting at the older man. “Nice set of pipes, gege!”

Eyes intent on the younger man, Xiao Zhan keeps singing.

_I was standing  
You were there  
Two worlds collided  
And they could never tear us apart_

Yibo joins him on the last line, sitting up and hugging his knees as he stares up at the older man gazing down at him.

“Gege?”

“You make me do things,” Xiao Zhan admits, sitting on the couch, just by the teen’s bare feet. He takes a sip of water before replacing the glass. “I’ve never chased anyone down before. Ever.”

“You probably never had to,” Yibo rests his cheek against his own bicep, not taking his eyes off the man. “Everyone would be chasing you.”

“Not you.”

“How can I chase you when you kept coming after me?” Yibo laughs lightly, leaning forward to smack the man lightly on the arm. “I did approach you first that third time though. At that Gucci thing.” He automatically reaches up to fiddle the ox head around his neck, playing with it as he continues speaking. “You were lucky Lele saw me giving you my lollipop earlier when you handed him the box. He would have just chucked it out otherwise.”

“Do you always travel with bodyguards?”

“Not tonight. I ditched them.”

“Do you actually _need_ them though?” Xiao Zhan moves to lean back into the deep couch. The depth would be akin to a single bed and with only one guest room, he had figured having couches that could potentially host bodies would be useful. He’s definitely not sharing his own.

Yibo shrugs and crawls forward, balancing somewhat precariously to snatch a piece of fruit before returning to his original position though he has minutely closer to Xiao Zhan. “An adult is required while I’m working until I turned 18. Auntie added it to my contracts. My mum has her own job I can’t have her tailing me around so Auntie arranged for them. Apparently they like chasing a teenager on a skateboard around so they stayed.”

“They? Skateboard?” Xiao Zhan has lost count as to where the conversation meanders sometimes when it comes to Yibo. However, he finds it endearing as hell because he is getting glimpses of the younger man.

“I have two bodyguards. Whether necessary or not, I don’t know but they’re very good at their jobs. I barely notice anything. Who knows what they’re filtering out.” He ruffles his hair. “And yeah, I skateboard for fun. I only just picked it up though so I’m probably not that great. You know how Lewis Hamilton is always scootering around? Well, I’m always on my board in the garage and in the pits.”

Xiao Zhan honestly doesn’t know, but he’ll take the teenager’s word for it. And there it is, he needs to at least have some sort of discussion over the elephant in the room.

“Right.” he leans forward to pick up the plate of fruit, placing it between them on the couch to give him some distance from the very intoxicating younger man, ignoring the small pout forming on Yibo’s mouth. “Rewind a bit. So…that’s one of the things we need to talk about.”

“Let me guess,” Yibo picks up a dried persimmon and nibbles at it, getting white powder on his upper lip. “My age.”

“Is that why you kept turning me down? And the drink…Oh my god it was illegal to get you a drink!”

“Funny how it would be legal to get married with parental permission at that age but serving alcohol would get you into trouble.” Yibo muses out loud before replying to the actual question. “Well, yeah. Though I kept turning you down not because I gave a fuck about underage drinking but because I promised my mum that if I did date anyone before I turned 18, she wanted to meet them first and I wasn’t sure how you’d react to that _and_ my age at the time. He leans over to nudge a shoulder. “You being Mister Hotshot CEO and all. I think you would have had a heart attack if I told you I was 17 when you kept asking me out.”

“How old were you in New Zealand?” 

“Ah…almost 17?” Yibo smirks widely before popping the entire persimmon into his mouth, chewing industriously as Xiao Zhan sputters next to him.

Xiao Zhan exhales noisily, staring at the teenager smiling beatifically at him while chewing on a rather large persimmon. He has powdered sugar on his upper lip and he once again acts before his brain catches up, leaning over to lick at that smooth upper lip, so pink and plump and very, very, sweet. 

Yibo stops chewing.

In fact, his jaw drops, offering the world (Xiao Zhan) a view of semi-masticated persimmon. 

“Sorry,” Xiao Zhan murmurs. “It was distracting.”

Shaking his head, he resumes chewing, picking up the plate of fruit and scooting himself over to exchange places with it. Xiao Zhan says nothing though they are still not touching. He just has to lean over though and then they will.

He leans over.

“Do you know why I’m Tracer 85?” Yibo settles comfortably next to him, their shoulders and arms pressed together.

“No, should I?”

“It’s my birthday.”

Suddenly everything slots into place. “You wanted me at your August race because you would be 18 then.”

Yibo neither agrees nor disagrees, asking instead. “Why didn’t you turn up? I looked for you.”

Xiao Zhan sighs and slides down the couch enough so he can rest the heels of his feet on the coffee table. He folds his hands over his abdomen as he starts to speak. “I missed the race because an important client had changed his mind about a design at the last minute and it was all hands on deck because even though they changed the design, they couldn’t give us more time to incorporate it so Ziyi and I had to work round the clock with the help of some contractual staff hired at the last minute to complete the project. Since we were basically working with unknowns, I had to supervise so I couldn’t get away. Lulu offered to go on her own to let you know but she fell sick that morning with food poisoning.”

“Shit happens I guess.”

“Quite literally,” Xiao Zhan deadpans, smiling when Yibo starts laughing, easing the slight tension between them.

“Toilet humour should be exclusive to teenagers not distinguished CEOs.”

“Well, I’m sure my mother would have told you I act younger than I should.”

“In not so many words.”

Yibo slides down as well but he folds his legs, balancing the plate on his abdomen and picking a piece of guava this time. 

Xiao Zhan finds a slice of mango and they chew in companionable silence for a bit, eating an assortment of fruit between them though it isn’t clear if either of them tasted anything, wholly and completely aware of the other in their personal space.

“I have a confession.”

“Oh?”

“Saying I didn’t chase you is probably a bit of a lie.”

“You didn’t though,” Xiao Zhan points out, taking a piece of strawberry. Their shoulders are pressed together and he is aware of the warmth coming from the younger man through his teeshirt. Yibo seems to run warm and as someone who generally hates any form of heat, Xiao Zhan finds himself drawn to this one.

“What did your mum say about the match?”

“Not much actually. I only found out you were 19 when she was about to leave. Besides that, all I know is that the matchmaker told her that despite only getting one match, it was a near perfect match and that it was basically a sure thing.”

“Mn. I couldn’t believe it myself. I even told Auntie that she literally didn’t need to do anything. Just introduce the two matches and leave them to it.”

A small furrow appears in Xiao Zhan’s brow and he turns his head towards the younger man though he forgets about his worries momentarily, confronted by a sharp jawline and a perfect profile. Even the teenager’s pronounced Adam’s apple is attractive to him. Inhaling slowly, he refocuses on their conversation.

“You were given more details?”

“Auntie doesn’t take anyone who isn’t at least 70% compatible on my mother’s program. It’s one of the reasons she has a 100% success rate. Before this, the highest compatibility they have ever had was 85%.”

Xiao Zhan’s mind is working. “So…this Auntie of yours is the matchmaker?”

“Mn. Zhan-ge is so smart.” Yibo elbows him, almost upsetting the nearly empty plate of fruit resting on his abdomen. “I didn’t know you were the client. I was…” he trails off for a few seconds before continuing. “I wanted something to distract me because I couldn’t forget you but I didn’t really want to look for you either. I don’t know why, it was weird. I just kept thinking if it happens, it happens. And to think I was thumbing my nose at Fate,” he stops. “Sorry, I’m rambling. Anyway, I was a little sceptical at Mama’s program and Auntie’s success so I told them to add me to the pool of potential matches. Mama was so shocked at the result she ran the program five times,” Yibo chuckles quietly. “She even ran the last few matches Auntie made to see if her program was broken. It wasn’t.”

“What was our match?”

“I’ll tell you after.”

“After?”

“I don’t want you to get performance anxiety,” Yibo explains with a quiet snicker as Xiao Zhan growls at him.

“Stop being such a brat.”

“You love it.”

“That still remains to be seen.”

“You’ll love it eventually. No one can resist me,” Yibo turns his head and smirks at the older man. “You can try I suppose.” He smirk widens. “We can role play and you can play hard to get.”

“Why would that be a role play? Maybe I am hard to get.”

In reply, Yibo sits up and puts the plate down by his side before placing a palm over Xiao Zhan’s chest, right over his heart and the man gasps quietly, sucking in a sharp breath at the sudden contact. He can hear his heart thudding in his ears and he is pretty fucking certain Yibo can feel it. The younger man pressing down gently, his phoenix eyes glowing in the light. “Are you sure about that, gege? The body never lies.” 

His voice is little more more than a whisper and akin to the whisper of the devil, telling Xiao Zhan to take that step into the abyss. He stares into those gorgeous eyes, barely able to suck in a proper breath. Yibo’s hand feels imprinted over his heart and he tries and fails to speak twice before the words finally spill out. He honestly should be worried at how a mere teenager seems to be able to get the better of him so easily and effortlessly and yet another part of Xiao Zhan just chants for more.

_More._

“Wh-who’s been teaching you such things?” The hand is like a brand on his chest, he can literally _feel_ the heat from the teenager’s ridiculously large hand. Of course his brain had to offer the useless not-a-fact regarding large hands and its correlation to certain other body parts. Feeling his cock twitch, Xiao Zhan has a brief moment to wonder who the fuck the actual teenager was because his body is definitely behaving like one.

“No one. I’m a quick learner and I like watching people. Don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at my mouth at the Gucci event.” His mouth curves upwards. “Your heartbeat just sped up. What exactly are you thinking about, gege?”

Putting his hand around Yibo’s wrist, he removes the teenager’s hand gently, shaking his head at the pout that appears again. This man knows he’s a heartbreaker. Xiao Zhan releases him and cards his hand through his own short hair. “You.” He reaches around Yibo and takes another piece of fruit, popping it into his mouth. 

“What about me?” Yibo brightens significantly.

“To have confidence like yours,” Xiao Zhan replies. “I don’t think I was half as polished as a teen and I was more mature than most.” He sees the light dim in the other but he’s really not ready to address the neediness he suddenly feels. It throws him off a little since he is definitely the adult here. The one with more experience both life and likely other things. And yet he constantly feels like he’s on the backfoot, Yibo already racing gleefully ahead. However, he can tell, he’s unsure how but it’s a feeling he is quite certain of, that no matter how far Yibo runs ahead, he will wait for Xiao Zhan to catch up. The fact that it should be the other way round is definitely not lost on him and he’s unsure how to deal with their strange dynamic. Yibo is the one leading, but in truth, he doesn’t actually mind it as much as he thinks he should. Perhaps he needs to rewire his own thinking. Age doesn’t always mean much in any case. Not these days anyway.

Shrugging off the slight disappointment though he’s not really sure what he was expecting. There is a thrumming sort of undercurrent between them that has been there since the very beginning. In the comfort of the couch and Xiao Zhan’s home, it has become a lot more pronounced since the man’s mother left but the older man is not acting on it. Being younger, he feels like he’s already been forward enough but since the CEO hadn’t even managed to get his number the past two meetings, he figures maybe the man just needs a helpful prod in the right direction.

He settles back down on the couch, once again pressed close to Xiao Zhan. He is used to being touched, both an occupational hazard and from his years in New Zealand. The girls especially found him too cute to resist and having one or two hanging off him at any one time wasn’t abnormal. “The most number of matches anyone has ever had was 11. The least is three. Most people average five to seven.”

“And then there’s me with one.” Xiao Zhan tilts his head up towards the ceiling. Of all the lights Yibo had picked to play with, he had managed to leave this corner dark enough that there are no lights beaming straight down on them.

“Actually, you had 18.”

Xiao Zhan fully turns his body towards the teenager at that, laying on a cushion, utterly confused. “18? What do you mean?”

“I mean you have 17 other matches ranging from 73% to 81% compatibility.” Yibo can feel the eyes boring into the side of his head but he resolutely stays looking forward at the large screen of the television. He could probably have waited a bit to disclose this but it doesn’t sit well with him. He is certain enough, after the past couple of hours, that even if given a choice, Xiao Zhan would have chosen him. “This is why I said it’s probably a lie to say I never chased you. I did. I didn’t want you to have other choices and told Auntie to return the money and only present me as an option. I was legitimately one of the 18 so there’s that at least.”

“She must love you. That’s a lot of money she said no to.” Xiao Zhan is feeling a pleasant kind of warmth that usually comes from alcohol. That heady, slightly euphoric feeling and the tingles from his toes that slowly travels upwards. The heat in his cheeks, ears and neck are familiar too. “The price of your teeshirt made my eyes water but the deposit for the matchmaker damn near made my eyes bleed.”

“Are you saying I’m not worth it?” Yibo asks archly. “I suppose this is not really a done deal. You can always return me to sender.”

“Are you fishing for compliments?”

“Maybe.” Yibo sniffs before moving, huffing slightly as he slides down lower to be able to reach his heels to the coffee table. “What are you? A giant? And I’m supposed to be the model?” He plops his head against Xiao Zhan’s shoulder, grumbling about it the whole time. “I can’t reach the back of the couch so you’re it.”

“I can get you another cushion.”

“Do you _really_ want to get me a cushion?” 

“Are all teenagers this forward?”

“How many teenagers do you know?”

“Just you.”

“Then yes.” He snuggles closer. “Why did you agree to a matchmaker anyway?”

“Same reason you did. I couldn’t forget you but I wasn’t sure what to do about it until the reality of this matchmaking dinner finally sank in. I changed my mind in the shower.”

“Oh?”

“I was going to look for you after dinner no matter how much of a _sure thing_ the matchmaker told my mother the match was.”

Yibo hums. “Was she wrong?”

“You know she wasn’t but I need to know, are you serious about this?” Xiao Zhan moves slightly so he can nuzzle into Yibo’s hair. He smells amazing although he has no doubt the man could be done with a full race and still smell like sex.

He clears his throat. Right, no idea where that came from. He tries and fails to banish the thought. Yibo’s proximity and scent is seriously doing things to his brain and body. His cock has been at half mast for most of the time now and it will not take anything at all to push it into full chub.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. I wouldn’t have asked Auntie to burn the other 17 profiles and put her own moral integrity on the line for it. I wouldn’t have told my mother that I probably wouldn’t be home tonight and she just stared at me like I’d grown horns and then disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a box of condoms and told me quite seriously that I’m on my own with regards to lube.” He snorts. “Neither of us can get pregnant so yeah I don’t know what she was on about.” He laughs then. “Honestly, half the time she still thinks we’re in New Zealand. It wasn’t weird to have a pregnant classmate and they’re all still pretty cool anyway.”

“Marriage though?” Xiao Zhan croaks out. There’s too much in what Yibo has just said to parse and his brain is so not up for it. The fact that the boy’s own mother gave him condoms probably goes some way to explaining why Yibo isn’t self-conscious at all. “That’s not just something you take a guess at and I’m betting your modelling contracts have something about you dating let alone getting married.”

“Nope,” Yibo pops the p, popping the second last piece of fruit in his mouth and storing it in his cheek while he speaks. He can feel Xiao Zhan nosing into his hair and it makes him smile. He is lying somewhat diagonal to the man now, his head more on his upper chest than his shoulder. “I know what I want and I didn’t want that so auntie made sure none of my contracts had anything that would restrict me. And besides, I’m not really a model. They just like how I look and that’s a them thing not a me thing. They want me, I don’t want them so she had a pretty long rope when it came to negotiating my contracts.” He pauses for a moment, listening to Xiao Zhan breathe. His breaths are a little short. Maybe they can train together though he knows it will be awhile before the older man gets anywhere close to his level of fitness. “So are we doing this? Mama joked about me coming home married and I think Auntie was about to have a heart attack right then and there. Though to be fair, Mama had me at 18 and only married my dad after so it’s not like they can judge.”

“You don’t want to date first?”

“First?” Yibo scrunches his nose cutely as he finishes chewing and swallowing his mango. “Do you see this leading anywhere other than marriage?”

“No.”

“So why do we need to date _first_? Why can’t we date _during_?”

Xiao Zhan sighs. So he’s going to have to be the bad guy. He can barely get the words out though, choking on them and he knows the teenager notices. “What if it doesn’t work out?” 

The teenager makes a loud scoffing sound, crossing his arms over his chest and nearly upending the plate on his belly. “Look, I saw your profile and the complementary match is quite ridiculous. The chance of this not working out is pretty non-existent and I should know since they’ve been doing this together for almost seven years now both in and out of my presence. Auntie and Mama do have a 100% success rate. I might have the whole resting bitch face down compared to your resting baby face but I’m pretty easy going.”

“Resting baby face?” Xiao Zhan asks indignantly, spluttering and mumbling about rude teenagers.

Said rude teenager just laughs. “You should be glad you have a baby face. We both look the same age.”

“Huh…that’s true.”

“Are you saying I look old?!” Yibo teases, laughter lurking loud and clear in his voice.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Xiao Zhan nuzzles into his hair again and presses a kiss into the top of his head. 

Feeling the kiss and wanting more, Yibo whines and pushes his head closer again, making Xiao Zhan laugh and press another kiss onto his head. 

“So…do you have plans tonight? Tomorrow?”

“I’m meant to be working,” Xiao Zhan admits. “We’re sending a proposal to Monster Energy and Zizi is covering for me tonight because—”

Yibo starts laughing then. Laughing so hard he has to roll away from Xiao Zhan and save the plate, placing it next to him as he curls over and crows with laughter. “I can’t fucking believe this.”

“What?”

“I saw them this afternoon and they said they’re still deciding on which design studio to go with for the general advertising campaign but that each individual sponsored athlete is free to choose who they want to work with. Since one of them is friends with my dad, and the other has reached out as a mentor, I’m sure I can help you out.”

“Wait…what are you saying…”

Yibo finally turns around, eyes glinting in the light. “Gege, I signed a sponsorship deal with Monster Energy this afternoon. One of several motor-racing related athletes. They are however leaving us to dictate how we want to do it and what image we would like as long as the general message and branding is aligned. While you are probably going for the overall job, I get to pick who I work with and possibly influence two others too.”

“So you’d be my boss?” Xiao Zhan arches an eyebrow as Yibo grins smugly down at him and nods.

“Well, client. I don’t know shit about any of this. I figured I’d just go with whoever they suggested but you know me so do whatever you want.”

“Wait, don’t you at least want to discuss this?”

“You designed my Tracer 85 logo perfectly without knowing me. You know me now. I trust you, gege.”

“So what, you’re just going to call Monster tomorrow and tell them you found your image designer?”

“Yup.”

“Don’t you have to declare the relationship?

“Spousal privilege. They can’t say no.”

Xiao Zhan starts laughing then. “That’s not how spousal privilege works, baobei. In this scenario it’s more like nepotism. As your spouse, I can accept running your designs, but we have to tell them about our relationship because you’re right, I am going for the overall design responsibility and it might cause issues.”

Yibo frowns. “Wait, did I ruin this for you? Like they might not consider you because we’re married?”

“It’s a possibility because the only brief they gave us this week for this was to design something suitable for the brand and high performing athletes and that was all they told us because they wanted to see what we came up with. Like, it’s literally giving us nothing. Knowing that you are one of these athletes is already more information than the other two design studios have.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. Damn, why am I so stupid?” 

Xiao watches as Yibo cards his hands frustratedly through his hair, mussing it up even more till it’s basically sticking up every which way making him look far more adorable than anyone has any right to be. _And he’s mine._

The thought comes unbidden, and he hurriedly speaks to reassure the younger man.

The CEO shakes his head. “It’s actually better I found out now then be blindsided later since we are only just starting laying the foundation for it. I was going to go the extreme sport route which would have been totally wrong since it’s motorsport.” He chuckles as he sees the realisation dawning on the teenager. “You see? I have insider information now. We have to tell them.” His brow furrows minutely. “Actually I need to tell Zizi to tell everyone to stop working. Give me a few minutes?”

Yibo nods, digging his hand into his track pants and pulling out his phone. “I need to make a few calls too.”

Xiao Zhan sits up. “I’ll go to my office. You can stay here.”

“Mn.” Yibo already has his phone to his ear.

The CEO moves to leave but a fisted hand in the front of his shirt stops him. The hand tugs and Xiao Zhan follows, their mouths meeting in a very quick lip-licking kiss before Yibo lets go with a smile and starts talking into his phone.

He hurries away, half aroused and mentally making a note to check what they need in order to register a civil marriage. His mother will kill him but the actual pomp and ceremony can happen later. Some couple don’t even have their wedding receptions till the following year so it’s not as if they are doing something strange.

—

“So you’ll talk to him?”

Mr Wang growls into his phone. It’s nearly two in New Zealand and he is still trying to calm his heart after seeing his only son ringing him at this hour when the boy knows full well the time difference between China and New Zealand. Expecting some horrible news, he was at first insanely relieved before sheer utter disbelief took over.

“I’ve already said yes three times, boy!” His ire cools when he hears the familiar weird laughter of his son. Honestly, he can never stay mad at the kid. “Now put Xiao Zhan on the phone. We need to have words.”

“Huh?” Yibo stops laughing abruptly. “But why?” 

“Why? You’re nineteen. I need to know this man isn’t an axe murderer or something.”

“I also have a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu, so what’s the issue again?”

“Son.”

“Dad.”

“Your mother’s stubbornness definitely holds true.”

“You say that every single time we talk.”

“Because it’s true.”

“Mn. So you’re fine right? Mama is fine.”

The man chuckles. “Wang Yibo, when has a no ever stopped you? I’m just glad you’re not reckless though this is certainly borderline. If he passed jiejie’s background screening then I’m sure he’s fine. I just want to speak to the man I’m handing my only child over to, at a fucking distance no less. Is that too much to ask?”

“You’re not going to scare him off or give him some Kiwi version of the shovel talk right?”

“You really like him this much?”

“I can’t explain it,” Yibo admits quietly. “Like…it really bothers me if I leave without knowing I’ll be returning home to him. I don’t even know why I feel like this but my gut has never failed me and it is currently twisted up in a terribly breathless knot. I think it’s going to stay twisty until we get married. I know there’s a chance we might not suit but do you know of Mama and Auntie to _both_ fail? Both of them agree this is about as perfect as it gets and I’m willing to take that chance.”

“Make sure to give me heaps of warning for the reception,” the man replies gruffly. “I’m going to be there even if I have to fly back the next day.”

“We will, dad.”

“I love you, son.”

“Love you too. Mama misses you heaps. I’ll be out of her hair now, maybe she can move back for a bit?”

“Mn, that’s an idea. I’ll talk to her but first, don’t think to distract me. I still want to talk to Xiao Zhan tonight.”

“I’ll see if he’s done,” Yibo finally agrees, satisfied that his father understands. He continues chatting as he wanders out in search of the other man, finding him pouring two glasses of water in the kitchen. “Dad, he’s here. I’m handing you over.”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes widen and he backs away shaking his head, making Yibo laugh because he suddenly looks so much younger than his age. Like a rabbit caught doing something naughty, his bunny teeth worrying his bottom lip, making Yibo smile fondly. He hands over his phone to the reluctant man who finally squares his shoulders and takes it, clearing his throat as he does.

“Sir?”

Yibo stays in the kitchen, nosying around the fully stocked fridge and pulling out a bottle of beer. He smirks at Xiao Zhan’s inquiring eyebrow, popping the lid as the man watches him with narrowed eyes while listening intently to whatever his father is saying. Tilting his head back, he takes a long swallow of the cold beer, relishing in the bitter taste and the marginal burn. Wine and beer at dinner is not an uncommon thing and he has a reasonable tolerance thanks to youthful shenanigans back in New Zealand. He has been to countless parties where alcohol was served _under supervision_ , as dubious as that supervision might be. In his experience, some adults can be pretty laid-back about such things. He’s never overindulged for the sole reason that he doesn’t like not being in control of all his faculties and as the only one with a licence and two vehicles at his disposal, he was usually designated driver for his mates anyway. 

He hip checks the older man as he walks round the island to the other side, blithely ignoring his warning look. Leaning down and arching his back like a cat, he rests his elbows on the island, gazing up at a motionless Xiao Zhan as he takes another long sip of his drink feeling slightly mollified when the CEO’s eyes track the bob of his throat. 

“Yes, sir. I promise and yes, I agree.”

Yibo sticks out his tongue and Xiao Zhan reaches over and catches it between his thumb and index finger. The teenager’s eyes widen unable to pull away as the man continues to speak into the phone though he is wearing a decidedly impish smirk. He tries protesting and apparently his father can hear him because Xiao Zhan replies with an easy _yes, that’s your son. He’s gotten himself caught. No sir, I do not plan on it._ Yibo has a lot to think about with that. Xiao Zhan lets him go eventually, flicking his nose as he goes and Yibo growls, grabbing what’s left of his beer and stalking off back to the lounge.

—

The bottle is empty by the time Xiao Zhan returns, Yibo busy trying to peel off the label on the beer bottle in one piece. 

“Can’t believe you have the patience for that.”

“My LEGO collection should tell you how much patience I have.” Yibo mumbles, intent on his exercise. He doesn’t move away as Xiao Zhan reclaims his earlier position, once again lying back down and resting his heels on the coffee table. He is spinning Yibo’s phone in one hand as he watches the younger man painstakingly peel the label off inch by inch.

“Your dad’s interesting.”

“If you mean blunt, you haven’t seen my mum.”

“She’s worse?”

“She gave me a box of condoms. What do you think?” Yibo doesn’t look at the other man, biting his bottom lip and crowing when he finally manages to get the label off.

Leaning forward, he drops the bottle and the no-longer-interesting label, and takes the last piece of preserved cherry before looking over his shoulder at the prone CEO. Xiao Zhan has unbuttoned another button since dinner and his shirt sleeves had been pushed up to his elbows while he was sorting out the leftovers earlier. 

He waves the small fruit at the older man. “Last one. Do you want it?”

“Cherry?”

“Mn.”

Xiao Zhan hums. “I don’t think I’ve had any yet.” He holds out his hand, eyebrows raised when Yibo turns to face him, popping the piece of cherry into his smiling mouth. “Hey!”

He can actually _see_ where the piece has gone, Yibo parking it in his cheek with a smirk. “Come and take it.”

“I can get one from the kitchen,” Xiao Zhan growls, his pants are getting uncomfortably tight and it’s going to be pretty fucking obvious if he has to steal that stupid cherry.

Yibo sticks out his tongue with the cherry balanced on it before his tongue disappears and the cherry is once again parked in his cheek. “Do you _really_ want to?” In the same tone he had used earlier.

Xiao Zhan is clearly better at thinking with his dick than his brain when it comes to Wang Yibo, sitting up to put his hands on either side of the younger man’s head before slanting his mouth over the parted lips of the wide-eyed teenager. He actually steals the cherry just as quickly as he stole the lollipop earlier but he pushes the cherry back into Yibo’s surprised mouth, drawing back to stare at the younger man.

“Don’t just give it up. Make me work for it.”

Yibo’s eyes are practically glowing and this time he leans forward, pressing their mouths together, and pushing his tongue into Xiao Zhan’s mouth so he cannot get to the cherry parked in his cheek. He forces the older man back, pushing him down easily, moaning when the CEO starts to suckle on his tongue. Crawling over him, he settles astride the man’s lap and deepens the _battle for the cherry_. His hips move to rut into the older man, his track pants doing absolutely nothing to hide the evidence of his arousal and he pays it no mind when he feels an equally hard counter beneath him. Moaning again at the contact, his hips move involuntarily, only stopping when a hand tightens at his waist and Xiao Zhan rips his mouth from his, panting as he gazes up at him.

“What?” Yibo rolls the cherry from his left cheek to his right. “Not enough?”

Xiao Zhan deliberately cants his hips up against him, seeing the startled expression in Yibo’s eyes before it gives way quickly to desire. “Too much.”

“Not enough,” Yibo corrects before pressing their mouths together again, licking Xiao Zhan’s mouth open. “Do you think you can steal this cherry before I come in my pants?”

“Yibo.”

“Gege,” he licks again. “Stop thinking.” He laughs throatily. “As far as sure things go, I’m a literal _fucking_ sure thing.” 

This time when he pushes his tongue in, he is met with resistance and hands over his hips that rock with his own lazy rutting. Their tongues stroke and lav at each other but Yibo does not yield, and they finally eventually break apart, panting again, breathing hotly and wetly against each other’s mouths. Yibo’s hand slots in between them to grip his own hard length, squeezing the turgid flesh through his track pants with a quiet groan.

“Can’t…can’t get proper friction.”

“Are you _trying_ to come in your pants?” Xiao Zhan cocks an eyebrow, shifting underneath him. “Really, Yibo?”

Yibo pulls back and grins. “Why not? I am a teenager. If there’s any time to do it without being judged for it, it’s now.”

He’s not wrong, Xiao Zhan thinks as he reaches up and pokes at the hardness in the teenager’s cheek. “Really, by the time you’re done, this will be a mess and I won’t even want it anymore.”

“Is that a challenge?” Yibo cocks his own eyebrow. “Or maybe you’re not even trying hard enough.”

“God help me…how did I end up with a mouthy little shit like you?”

“Maybe you just like mouthy little shits,” Yibo pulls back, his brown creasing in concern when Xiao Zhan indicates he wants to move. “Is your back sore? Your neck?”

“Just getting into a better position _for you_ ,” the older man replies tartly. “This will be easier with me on my back and my legs around you so you can fuck against me.”

“Oh,” Yibo’s mouth pops open and the cherry literally falls out of his mouth.

—

He’s right of course. Definitely easier. Xiao Zhan finally gets the cherry when Yibo gasps through his orgasm and drops it right in his waiting mouth.

Chewing on the partially masticated fruit, Xiao Zhan makes a face. “This is more saliva than cherry. It’s kinda gross,” he remarks though he continues chewing and swallows it as Yibo starts to laugh.

The teenager is holding himself up with a hand planted against the back of the couch, staring down at the older man whose mouth is swollen and red from both the cherry and their kisses. “Talk to me about gross when you have boxers full of come,” he makes a face. “This was way fucking sexier in my head.” 

“Sex is always sexier in your head. The reality is just messy and gross.”

Unperturbed, Yibo grins. “So, wanna get messy and gross with me?”

“After.”

Groaning Yibo drops his forehead and presses it against the other man’s, nuzzling their noses together. “Why do we have so many _afters_. After what now?”

“My after is the same. Was yours?”

Sighing in resignation, he gingerly lowers his body onto the other man’s, grimacing at the sticky feeling in his pants. “I have no more underwear.”

“You really didn’t think this through, huh?” Xiao Zhan kisses Yibo’s sweaty temple, inhaling the teenager who just sighs and asks for more kisses. “You’re cuter than you let anyone think.”

“Cool not cute.”

“I say cute.”

“I say cool.”

“Do you want clean underwear or not?”

“Fine, fine, cute. Fuck, don’t think I’m giving in so easily next time. I declare a moratorium on arguments after orgasms.”

Xiao Zhan just laughs and hugs the teenager close. His cock is still painfully hard in his pants but he can wait. He’s not desperate. They have the rest of their lives.

After a few more innocent kisses that Yibo declares sufficient for the time being, Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes and squeezes the teenager. “You’re this rockstar professional racer and yet all you want is to be peppered with kisses.”

“Hey, we all have our vices.”

“Shower?”

“Together?”

“You have a one-track mind.”

“I’m a teenager. We don’t think about anything else.”

“God help me.”

“Well, I don’t have a gag reflex either so maybe you will see god if you’re nice to me in the shower.”

Xiao Zhan’s absurd choking on his own saliva is only superseded by Yibo’s crowing laughter that echoes around the large room.

—

Yibo collapses facedown onto the bed, his body still damp from the shower, boneless and naked. He gets a towel snapped at his ass but he just waves the other man away and turns onto his cheek so he can see Xiao Zhan who is unfortunately wearing a white robe. “Why did you get dressed if we’re going to bed?”

“I need to clear some emails and I want to put away the dishes. I don’t really like coming down to stuff lying around in the kitchen.” Xiao Zhan eyes Yibo’s ass pointedly. “And besides, your free passes are all done for. There’s teeshirts and shorts in the closet, I’m sure you can find them.”

“I sleep naked,” Yibo pouts.

“Of course you do,” Xiao Zhan sits next to him and boops his nose. “Not tonight though, baobei, okay?”

Sighing mightily like he’s been asked something so incredibly hard to give, Yibo flips over and rests his wet head in Xiao Zhan’s lap.

“Yibo!”

“What?”

“You’re naked!” The only pillows Xiao Zhan can reach are for their heads and after a second’s hesitation, he grabs one anyway and throws it hastily onto Yibo’s exposed body, not really covering much since his aim is off and the pillow lands across his knees.

“I didn’t realise you had such Victorian sensibilities that my knees offend you,” Yibo laughs when Xiao Zhan growls at him to cover up. “Why though?” He asks, stretching lazily. “S’not like you haven’t seen it. Or had it in your mmpppffhh.” 

“Do you kiss your mother with this mouth,” Xiao Zhan stares down at the younger man. He’d used his robe to smother him to avoid being licked. He’s learned a few things about Yibo between the lounge and the bathroom and the teenager has _no boundaries_ at all. Any body part of Xiao Zhan’s is fair game for a lick, kiss, bite. He’s going to have to watch what he wears to the office because he has a literal fucking collar of hickies.

A collar.

Great.

At least it’s practically turtleneck season.

Yibo pulls himself free. “Not anymore. She’d take one look at you and avoid my mouth,” he snickers. “That would be so funny. I think I’ll chase her around the room just for the hell of it. I did brush my teeth after all.”

“Yeah, with my toothbrush.” Xiao Zhan might still be a little miffed about that. 

“Sharing is caring.”

“Are you going to share your LEGO?”

“If you want.”

“What if I fix it wrong?”

“Then I’ll just fix it right.”

“Is everything really that simple?”

Yibo stares upside down at the older man before he sits up. “This conversation needs to happen in a better position.” He gestures at the top of the bed. “Get up there.”

Mildly amused at the _march or else_ type tone, Xiao Zhan moves as instructed, laying on the pillow and finding himself with a very naked leanly muscled teenager a scant second after. The answer to his earlier question is six.

Six.

His tongue feels itchy all of a sudden.

“You’re still naked.”

“How observant of you,” Yibo replies flippantly. “We’re not going to bed yet. I’ll wear clothes later.”

“It’s fine,” Xiao Zhan concedes. “Honestly, it’s more for my peace of mind than anything but that’s not fair if it makes you uncomfortable all night.”

“As opposed to your discomfort?” Yibo queries back. “I’ll wear shorts at least, okay? Don’t worry about it. I was just being a brat. Mama always says I try and push until the other person breaks. Seems wrong to be doing it to my husband.”

“You say that so easily,” Xiao Zhan marvels, rubbing at the mole near Yibo’s clavicle. It has a large hickey over it and the teenager had laughed at the prospect of giving his makeup artist nightmares over it, but in a friendly way of course. Apparently she adores him and treats him like the baby brother she never had.

Of course she does. In fact, Xiao Zhan still cannot believe how lucky he is that Wang Yibo wants him.

_Wants him back._

“Well, you are the one who told me we’d be getting married. You didn’t ask, remember?” He puts two fingers over the man’s mouth and shakes his head. “No, you don’t need to ask. Don’t ask.” He stares intently at the other man until the CEO nods reluctantly before he moves his fingers away.

“Fair point.”

Yibo starts to trace his fingers up and down Xiao Zhan’s Adam’s apple and then to the surrounding circlet of very light hickies around his throat, his eyes following his fingers as he does so. “I’m not a fan of over-complicating things for the sake of it. I like you, you like me. I am also pretty certain love isn’t that far away if it isn’t here already. As far as personality clashes go and other quirks etc, it’s something that can be worked through,” his eyes take on a slightly distant look even though he is still staring somewhere in the vicinity of his stroking finger. “Maybe it’s my experience back in my adopted country because marriage wasn’t really a big thing. You could just cohabit and you’d be considered together legally, but in terms of the actual relationship, there’s not much stopping you from just walking away when it gets too hard. I saw people with fewer problems compared to my parents just separate because it was _too hard_ , a muscle slides in his jaw. “I want to work on a problem and get past it, not give up. I’m not the quitting kind.” He drops his hand and raises his eyes to meet Xiao Zhan. “And besides, isn’t that what an arranged marriage is about? For two compatible people to get together and figure it out as they go? Learning about each and growing that into something concrete and eternal? I know fundamentally we want the same things, being able to provide for our parents, a stable life, kids, pets, and we are both willing to make sacrifices for it. I can’t cook at all but I honestly don’t mind doing chores. Mama can vouch for me if nothing else.” His expression is thoughtful as he continues to speak. “If you think about it, our marriage would be grounded in something a lot more solid than something as airy fairy as love. Love is important for sure but it doesn’t solve everything. Two people may be madly in love but unable to stay together because one wants children and the other doesn’t. My parents got married because my mother wasn’t willing to abort me and my father wasn’t willing to shirk his responsibilities, not because they loved each other, but they grew to love each other over time. I guess I arranged their marriage in a way. If it weren’t for me they would likely never be together since he’s a petrolhead and she’s a nerd. People see marriage as an end goal but isn’t it just the beginning? Melding two lives together is a lifelong challenge.” His smile is small but it is lighted from within with no apprehension whatsoever as if to him it’s a done deal. “Are you up for the challenge, gege?”

In answer, Xiao Zhan simply leans forward and kisses the younger man, holding him and pulling closer, deepening the kiss until they are both breathless and Yibo’s bare cock is poking him.

“Is that answer enough?”

The teenager’s grin is wide and beautiful, his mouth spit slicked and swollen from a lot of kisses over the past hour. “So…Cartier is trying to woo me. Shall we pop into the store tomorrow morning?”

Xiao Zhan laughs brightly, grinning right back in reply. “Are you trying to chuck another freebie at me for a wedding ring?” He shakes his head. “You know I didn’t really date after I became CEO because I wasn’t sure if they wanted me or my title and money but you are in a whole different class of your own. I don’t need to spend a cent and you’d still be dressed like you owned the world.”

“Don’t I?” Yibo asks, pressing a soft licking kiss to the older man’s mouth. “Also, fuck no. I don’t know shit about wedding rings. I just wanted to make sure if I do agree to be wooed, that I’m not agreeing to represent shoddy merchandise.”

“Cartier is not shoddy you little brat.”

“Little?” Yibo’s eyebrow goes up and he purposefully rubs his still turgid cock against the older man. “Maybe you need a refresher.”

Xiao Zhan hums and wraps his hand over the hot length before leaning in for another kiss. “Maybe I do.”

—

Yibo is draped over Xiao Zhan’s back like a limp rag as the man tries to make them a hot chocolate. “You didn’t have to come down with me, baobei. You’ve had a long day.” He gets some form of grunt in response and laughs out loud because really, four orgasms in just over two hours seems to be some kind of limit for Yibo who had been too boneless to even get out of bed for a good half hour. It is only when Xiao Zhan points out he still has things to do that the teenager had reluctantly sat up, still naked as the day he was born, and proceeded to pout his way into a pair of Xiao Zhan’s shorts after he noped so hard at the briefs on offer. _My balls need to breath. Who the fuck wears those things? Fuck, gege. I need to teach you the joys of freeballing._

Xiao Zhan laughs again at that memory. Yeah, maybe not yet. 

“What are you laughing at?” Yibo slurs his question, arms tightening.

“Freeballing,” Xiao Zhan replies honestly. 

There is few seconds of silence before Yibo replies. “Well, I don’t know what’s funny about it but if you have to work, maybe I can interest you in cockwarming.”

“Wang Yibo!”

The teenager finally slides away from his back and leans against the island smirking lazily, a devilish glint in his eye. “Why not?”

“Haven’t you had enough?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “That’s relative isn’t it?” He examines his nails before returning his attention to the older man. “I have a fair few years to make up for,” he grins, batting his eyelashes innocently.

Innocently his ass. 

“At the rate you’re going, you’ll catch up in no time, trust me,” Xiao Zhan is feeling flushed. And hard. Honestly, he didn’t think it was possible but Yibo is just one of those people you really can’t say no to. And his cock apparently has absolutely no fucking idea what _no_ even means. 

As if reading his mind, Yibo sidles up to him and turns him gently so they are facing each other. 

Draping his arms loosely around Xiao Zhan’s neck, he cocks his head. “You can say no to me, you know?” He gestures between them. “This here, is a safe space to say no. Remember what I told you? I’m prone to pushing. Sometimes I do it just to see how far it goes. I don’t really think about it sometimes, it’s just a knee-jerk thing. I don’t mean to do it to you, but I’m probably going to for a fair while until I learn when to stop or just remind myself to stop. So, in summary,” he smiles and leans up to place a gentle kiss to the older man’s mouth. “You can say no to me, gege.” 

Xiao Zhan raises his hands to grip around the teenager’s waist and leans down to capture his mouth again. “The thing is,” he whispers against those soft pillowy lips. “I’m starting to learn that _I don’t want to_.”

Yibo’s throaty laughter turns into a quiet moan as the kitchen appliances bear witness to something the bathroom and bedroom are now very well acquainted with. It is only a matter of time, probably days, that every room in Xiao Zhan’s penthouse learns the same thing.

**~~~**

Xiao Zhan cracks open his eyes when Yibo slides out from under his arm.

“Baobei?”

“Mn,” Yibo replies, looking over his shoulder. “Go back to sleep. I need to go for a run.”

“Need?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a race coming up. Do you have a gym here? Or a running machine at least? My brain is too foggy to remember what they’re called.”

“Treadmill,” Xiao Zhan offers helpfully with a hoarse chuckle as he turns to lie on his back. Yibo is wearing the same shorts from last night and he is looking around, his nose scrunched and brow furrowed. “What are you looking for?”

“That hoodie you were wearing last night.”

Xiao Zhan leans to look over the edge of the bed on his side and grabs the worn grey college hoodie. “This?” Yibo is already almost by him, grabbing the hoodie and then to his horror, leaning down for a kiss and he turns away more abruptly then he intended.

“What’s wrong?”

“Morning breath.”

“Are you kidding me?” Yibo sits on the bed, using his hips to nudge Xiao Zhan inwards. “Is this a hard no or a soft no.”

“Soft,” Xiao Zhan admits reluctantly, turning back slowly. “You don’t have to bulldoze all through my soft nos.”

“Your soft nos are exactly that,” Yibo boops his nose with an affectionate grin. “Soft. Come on, let’s hear it then. I accepted your whole spiel on germs on toothbrushes last night so you got away with the toothbrush soft no but I wanna hear this one.”

“My breath stinks?” He cringes inwardly at how it sounds more like a question than an assertive statement though in fairness, how can anyone sound assertive talking about their stinky morning dragon breath?

Yibo seems to agree because he’s leaning forward to sniff. “Since you don’t seem to know, then you can’t be the judge of that. Blow.”

“No!”

The gremlin teenager blows on him instead, making Xiao Zhan sputter and Yibo to sprawl across his lap laughing. “Your face was so fucking hilarious. You were so shocked I actually did it.”

“Just for that you can go to the gym,” Xiao Zhan pouts, folding his arms across his chest.

“S’ok. I’ll just go hunting for this treadmill. I bet it’s near the lounge.”

Before Xiao Zhan can reply, Yibo’s phone goes off and the teenager scrambles off Xiao Zhan’s lap to grab it from his bedside table.

“Mama!” He answers in a singsong voice, placing the phone on speaker and setting it on the bed as he lays his head in Xiao Zhan’s lap. “You’re on speaker.”

“When am I ever not on speaker?” Comes the warm voice. “So you really didn’t come home last night, huh? Is he there?”

“Is he there?” Yibo echoes loudly, yelping when Xiao Zhan pinches his side. “Hey! Gege, play nice!”

“Xiao Zhan?”

“Uh…yes Mrs Wang. This is Xiao Zhan. I’m sorry we have yet to be introduced.”

She laughs, the sound warm and pleasing to the ear. “Don’t worry, I won’t give you the third degree. I already spoke to my husband this morning and I met your mother last night and she was almost literally over the moon though she kept asking me if I was sure I was fine with it. I did tell her that trying to stop Yibo is like trying to tell a hurricane to slow down. That’s basically fair warning for you,” she chuckles brightly. “So I guess we have a reception to plan?”

“Ah…Mama, about that. Can we wait for abit regarding the reception? We want to talk about it bit more and I’ve got quite a bit on my plate at the moment and don’t have time.”

“I thought you two would want to get to it sooner rather than later?”

“We’re going to get registered this morning but no reception till next year probably. Maybe on our middle birthday.”

“Wait, back up a second. Registered? Today? You do know that’s a legal marriage in the eyes of the law.”

Yibo laughs and snuggles deeper in Xiao Zhan’s warm lap. “I know, Mama. We’re going to Cartier first to get the rings then swing by and get registered. We already made a booking on their online system thing last night. It’s so ridiculously efficient and they even asked if we wanted to get married remotely, like why the fuck? Though I suppose it might be a remnant from that epidemic thing.”

“Xiao Zhan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Both Wangs snicker at his automatic response. 

“Please, just call me jiejie or something. Ma’am makes me feel twice my age. I just want to point out that my son’s penchant for branded goods has nothing to do with me and if you two are crazy enough to get married this morning, at least come over for dinner tonight?”

“Oh yes, it’s okay, I figured that out pretty quick after he tried to hand off his freebie from Givenchy last night. Anyone who can give away a ¥3000 teeshirt probably has more where that came from. And I’d love to come for dinner.”

“I have to convince him to get on my bike first.”

His mother chokes quite clearly over the phone and Xiao Zhan and Yibo exchange looks before Yibo’s eyes widen when she continues sputtering and mumbling about getting a shock. “Mama! That was not what I meant! I was talking about my actual bike! The one with the engine! Holy shit, get your mind out of the gutter, woman! You’ve definitely been watching too much Chen Qing Ling or something, what the actual fuck.” He snorts. “And besides, he doesn’t need convincing _for that_.”

“Son. I was actually literally choking because I was trying to do three things at a time and drinking water while trying to feed the cat that wants to jump you while you’re trying to pour food out _is not recommended_. As for all that extra bits of information _I certainly did not need_ , I’m glad the condoms proved useful.

This time it is Xiao Zhan who chokes. “We—we didn’t.”

“Oh?”

Yibo growls. “He’s being all _after marriage_.”

“Then what was that comment abou— you know what? Nevermind! So Xiao Zhan, I hear you’re a great cook and almost killed my son but you resurrected him. If my Yibo tried to make you breakfast, please be assured that he did not get his cooking skills from me. That’s all his dad.”

“Mama!”

“It’s true. You’re good at every damn thing anyone asks you to do but cooking? I don’t know why you don’t get it.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to get it. Maybe I want someone to look after at least one thing for me since I can do everything else. What about that?” Yibo counters defiantly, a mutinous edge to his voice.

“Then I’m glad you found me,” Xiao Zhan replies quietly, cupping Yibo’s jaw in his hand and squeezing lightly. “Anything is fine, Mrs Wang…errr…jiejie. Please don’t trouble yourself. I can eat anything.”

“I can vouch for that!” Yibo yells out, cheered up already from Xiao Zhan’s simple touch. 

Mrs Wang exhales noisily. “Xiao Zhan, he’s not like this in front of anyone but me. I tried not to raise him to be this uncouth but I have a feeling he’s beyond happy and wants to shout about it so let him get it out of his system, okay?”

“I sort of figured that,” the CEO replies. “It’s alright. I’ve got him.”

“See, Mama? A sure thing!”

“Yes, darling. A sure thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yibo was breaking my brain...idk if you could tell I was struggling trying to reign him the hell in. My god teenagers are just...


	4. Ditto

Yibo has AirPods on and clearly isn’t aware of his audience as he sings along to some Korean song as he runs on the treadmill. Leaning against the door jamb, Xiao Zhan watches quietly, arms loosely crossed as his fingers drum on his bicep along with the pounding of Yibo’s feet on the treadmill. He has been running for at least fifty-five minutes with Xiao Zhan watching for the last ten when he decided to look for the younger man since breakfast is already waiting. Personally, he never spends more than half an hour on the machine so for Yibo to still be running boggles his mind a little. It’s just so boring and with someone so full of energy like Yibo, he can’t really see him pounding out lengths on the machine for such a long time.

Clearly he still has a lot to learn about the teenager.

The younger man keeps hitting the buttons to reduce the speed every minute until sixty minutes are up and he starts on a brisk walk before finally hopping up lightly on the bars on either side of the track and hitting the stop button. Humming to himself, he turns and yelps so loudly, clutching his hand to his chest that it also startles Xiao Zhan into an echoing yelp.

“Gege! You fucking scared me to death oh my god I think my heart is about to jump out of my chest.” He pulls out both AirPods and pockets them as he grumbles, stroking his chest as if trying to calm his heart. “I had myocarditis as a child so my heart is weak. Please have pity on this poor soul.” His little frown turns into a gremlin smile. “All will be forgive if you let me hug you.” He opens his arms and actually shows his surprise when Xiao Zhan steps into his sweaty embrace without pause.

Nosing into the teenager’s hair, he squeezes the younger man tightly, his voice whisper-soft. “What happened with the myocarditis? Do you still need medication.”

“No,” Yibo answers quietly, his arms slipping easily around the man’s slim waist and he closes his eyes, relaxing into the hug. “I’ve got a clean bill of health. The Yamaha doctors keep a close eye on me.”

“Who is your health proxy?”

“My mum,” Yibo murmurs quietly, nuzzling against the comfort of Xiao Zhan’s neck. “We need to add you. Maybe we can talk about it over dinner later?”

Xiao Zhan’s arms do not loosen. Yibo’s musky sweaty scent is actually rather pleasant. Strong but pleasant and he stays there just inhaling the man. “Mine’s my mum too. I don’t have any history of anything though except I’m probably considered quite blind.”

“I noticed the glasses,” Yibo murmurs against the warm dry skin just by Xiao Zhan’s ear. “Why are you not wearing them now, gege? You look very cute.” He sighs at the tempting skin by his mouth. “My vision is perfect for now.”

“Mn.”

Running his lips from Xiao Zhan’s ear and along his sharp jawline, they fall into the kiss easily. Their lips tug and explore the contours of each other’s mouths as if kissing for the first time. Unlike the previous few times, this kiss is definitely more languid, simply done for the pleasure and intimacy of the touch rather than to chase release. Licking the seam of Xiao Zhan’s mouth, he sighs into the kiss when the older man parts his lips and their kiss deepens naturally. Soft easy strokes of their tongues, caressing and deepening but never moving into anything more urgent. 

They are tasting each other.

Conveying their good morning greetings.

And despite not really being apart at all, they missed each other in that hour.

Both Xiao Zhan and Yibo pull back in unison, lips slick, eyes wide, breaths a little uneven but nothing of the panting urgency from last night. 

Leaning forward to kiss the pretty mole under Xiao Zhan’s bottom lip, Yibo murmurs against it. “You know, if you kiss me like that every morning, it’s going to take a lot of strength to leave home every day.”

“Just remember there’s more when you get home then,” Xiao Zhan replies. His voice is a little thready from the sheer amount of _feelings_ he is trying to corral into something that makes sense. The simple, lingering kiss that asked for nothing more than what it was has shaken him to the core. He had thought the teenager insatiable and he is still pretty certain he is right. But for the younger man to be satisfied with a sweet kiss and not expect anything more is somehow making him feel even more than he did last night. The man is an enigma and Xiao Zhan is pleasantly buzzed from the knowledge that he will be his. Is his. His own mystery to unravel.

“Are you able to work out of the office much or must you drop in regularly?” Yibo asks, resting his cheek against a shoulder, his forehead pressed into Xiao Zhan’s neck. They are still hugging, not holding each other as tightly as earlier but tight enough to convey to the other that neither is willing to step away just yet.

“It depends on the projects we have going on. I trust my managers and team leads so unless it’s an important project like the one with Monster or something I’m contributing in, I can probably get away with working away from the office although I actually tend to work more hours when I do that.” Xiao Zhan is absentmindedly caressing the skin over Yibo’s waistband. “Why do you ask?”

“Some of my upcoming races are on international circuits. Yamaha want me to travel around Asia more since I’ve been with them for almost two years now.” He scrunches his nose. “And then there’s also the modelling thing. After my race in Japan I have a cover shoot for Vogue I think. I can’t remember the exact details but I’ll ask Auntie to add you so you have access to my schedule too.”

“Is there a question in there somewhere?” Xiao Zhan asks, both his thumbs are now hooked in Yibo’s waistband and he waits as the teenager pulls back to look at him with an unreadable gaze.

Yibo’s eyes traces the moles he can see as he thinks about how to ask his question. Expecting the man to drop everything to travel with him was never his intention but he supposes the way he had presented the possibility of wanting Xiao Zhan to travel with him did sound a little like that. He stops counting moles at 10, lifting his eyes to meet the warm, patient gaze of the older man.

It is the open invitation that he sees that puts a total block on the mild apprehension he feels.

“If you could manage it, would you like to travel with me? I’m used to travelling alone but I think…I think it would be nice to have someone with me.”

“As far as I can, I will be there for every race no matter what country it’s in. How about we play it by ear for the modelling gigs?”

“Sounds fair,” Yibo is glad his voice didn’t squeak since he’s definitely making random high pitched sounds internally. It’s more than he would have expected. His primary job is still a professional racer so everything else will always be secondary to that. To have the man basically promise he will be there for every race is the biggest win in his short life in his opinion and he didn’t even have to do anything but ask. Snuggling back down and tucking himself under Xiao Zhan’s chin, he chuckles. “I never thought I’d genuinely think this but I actually like that you’re taller. Makes cuddling a lot more fun for me.”

Xiao Zhan’s laughter is warm and it echoes around the small gym room. “You did a pretty good job at being big spoon at the start of last night.”

“It’s easier to be big spoon to someone taller when you’re lying down,” Yibo laughs along with the older man as he pulls away. Catching their hands together, he tugs Xiao Zhan along. “Come on, I smell breakfast on you and it’s making me hungry.”

“Dare I ask what your mother was referring to about breakfast?” Xiao Zhan asks, allowing himself to be tugged along in the wake of the teenager. “It sounded quite ominous.”

Yibo makes a scoffing sound. “One time on her birthday my dad was away so I tried to make her breakfast in bed because that’s what he always did. Let’s just say the only edible thing on the tray…was the flower in the small vase I added as decoration.”

Xiao Zhan chokes on his laughter, a little startled. “It can’t have been that bad.”

The teenager winces as they sit at the dining table though his pained expression turns into pleasure when he notes that Xiao Zhan has laid out their meal alongside each other so they are sitting side by side. Dropping his hand in the older man’s lap, he squeezes his inner thigh as he captures some youtiao and Chinese sausage for his congee with his chopsticks. “It was bad, ge. Don’t try and protect my fragile male ego. Mama actually had to _chew_ her coffee. I don’t even remember what I did, just that she took a sip, her face had this indescribable look of shock, _then she started chewing_.” He laughs. “I could hear the beans crunching.”

“How old were you?” Xiao Zhan asks, delighted at the story. He can almost picture it.

“13 I think. I’d just hit puberty and apparently thought well then it’s time to learn a useful skill.”

“Did you learn anything?” Xiao Zhan asks with a laugh. 

“Yeah. I learned not to drink coffee since there’s a chance I’d have to eat it.”

The spacious penthouse is alive with laughter and easy-flowing conversation as the new couple chat and tease each other over a simple breakfast of congee and some side dishes.

Neither of them need to convince the other to share a shower later. All in the interest of conserving water and energy of course.

—

“So you just happened to have a spare helmet?”

Yibo snickers and nods. “Well, that’s why I had to bring my helmet up because yours was taking up space.”

“Mine?” Xiao Zhan chokes on the word. “What do you mean, mine?”

“I didn’t drive here so unless you have a car or something, this is it.”

“We can always call a Didi,” Xiao Zhan offers hopefully. His hopes are of course dashed when Yibo makes a scoffing sound. 

“I think I trust myself more than a Didi driver to get myself from Point A to Point B safely. If you’re uncomfortable, I can always meet you there. I’m not going to force you on my bike, gege.”

Xiao Zhan eyes the sleek bike. It is bigger than the one he remembers from New Zealand but he’s not even going to attempt to comment on that and make a fool of himself. The amount of things he knows about bikes is basically that Yibo rides them. That’s it.

Squaring his shoulders, he stares the teenager down. “You’ve already dressed me,” he gestures to his leather-clad body. “I guess I shouldn’t let your _clearly well-planned_ scheme to get me to ride go to waste.”

Yibo’s mouth twitches noticeably as he tries to keep his amusement contained at that tempting opening. “I was a Boy Scout in New Zealand.”

“Of course you were.”

—

“Ready?”

“Wang Yibo, I was ready thirty minutes ago. I didn’t realised it was going to be so involved just to get out of the garage.” Xiao Zhan’s voice might be toeing the line into outright whining. His head is spinning with all the information. _Hug with the knees. Don’t shift around. Stay as close and low as possible. Don’t try to correct. Stay looking over one shoulder. Pick one shoulder and stick with it so I know where you are and we don’t have helmet collisions. Tap twice if you need to stop. Keep your arms secured around my waist or chest, whichever is more comfortable._

His head is spinning.

The teenager pops his visor up and twists to look at the other man quite seriously. “Ge, I ride with pillions all the time, ever since I got my licence in New Zealand. Safety is the most important thing to me. Your safety is more important than mine because I know what to do in an emergency. You don’t. So if it takes twenty, thirty, forty fucking minutes to get you at least reasonably knowledgeable then we will take that time.” He breathes out noisily, staring at the older man. “Maybe you should take a Didi after all.”

“No, it’s fine,” Xiao Zhan bites his lip. “I’m sorry, test me one more time.”

Yibo tests him three times. 

—

Xiao Zhan exhales slowly to try and calm his racing heart when Yibo pulls into the parking lot and turns off the bike. 

He watches as the teenager leans forward to take off his helmet, ruffling his hair which was totally unnecessary but he definitely appreciates it. Hell, his cock is appreciating the hell out of it.

“Ge, you need to get off first.”

“In the state I’m in, I’m definitely getting off first,” Xiao Zhan mumbles to himself but he’s not as quiet as he thinks he is. He yelps when a de-gloved hand presses against the seam of his borrowed leathers, the chub he had sprouted about mid-way through the ride very obvious. As is the stifled moan he lets out when that damn hand just presses harder. 

“Should I turn around and take us home?” Yibo asks quite seriously as he turns around, his eyes dark with interest. “What did it for you?”

Xiao Zhan is glad for visor which is very short-lived when he realises he cannot see Yibo properly. Taking off his helmet, he gazes at the teenager who still has a palm pressed against the seam of his too-tight leathers. 

“Honestly? Everything. You. The speed. The obviously powerful machine.” He bites his lip, staring into the darkly intent eyes of the younger man. Eyes that seem far older than the man himself. “Just you. The way you ride. The easy confidence. How _smooth_ the entire ride was. I felt like we never stopped even once but I know we did.” He nods his head as if confirming something for himself. “You.” He licks his lips. “Definitely you.”

—

“Should we break that up?” The security guard asks his superior, pointing at one of the carpark cameras. 

The man leans in to look at the grainy black and white of one of the motorcycle parking lots where one man has another pinned against a concrete pillar. He watches for a full minute before he shakes his head. “I don’t think they plan on fucking right there. It’s just…” he pauses, eyebrow cocked at how _aggressive_ the shorter man seems to be. “Very intense kissing. You can send someone down if they start stripping or something but the mall is barely open so let’s leave the lovebirds alone unless some nosy passerby complains.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

—

Yibo is whistling along to _Lalala_ currently playing over the mall’s speakers, leaning casually against a wall. He gets several stares by passing fellow mall patrons, eye catching in his all black leathers, his bright green helmet like an accent. 

He is still whistling when someone bumps his elbow. Straightening with a grin, he eyes the flushed taller man whose mouth is a deep rosy red, bite marks in two places. “Okay, gege?”

Instead of replying, Xiao Zhan presses a thumb against Yibo’s kiss-swollen bottom lip. “You look ravaged.”

“You should see the other guy,” Yibo jokes with a chuckle. “You did take a look at yourself in the bathroom mirror, didn’t you?”

Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes and nods. “Yes, I’m well aware of how I look. We shouldn’t be allowed out of the house. They’re going to take one look at us _and just know_ ,” he remarks in a dire tone as they link hands and walk off towards the large Cartier store occupying two floors. 

“So what?” Yibo replies easily. “We are going in there to buy wedding rings. It’s pretty fucking obvious we’re not the _keep your hands to yourself_ type of couple.”

“Wang Yibo, you haven’t even _tried_ that.”

“And do you want me to?”

“No.”

“I thought not.”

—

“Love or Trinity?”

“I like both,” Xiao Zhan admits. 

This early in the morning, they are the only ones in the store and had already been fussed over by the mostly female staff all trying their best not to ogle. When Yibo is recognised by the manager is when all manner of drinks and snacks start coming out as well and the staring and hovering just gets worse.

“Then get both,” Yibo suggests. “One for our actual ring finger and one for the index finger. I’m leaning towards the Trinity for the actual wedding band though since the Love ring is more of a statement piece and would be more eye-catching on the index finger.”

“Agreed.” Xiao Zhan nods. His knee jerk reaction had been to comment about how two rings are really quite unnecessary but since the younger man is only voicing what he had been seriously considering, he decides against a discussion about it, especially with so many eager witnesses. He has been surprised numerous times how assertive the teenager is and how they almost seem to be of one mind. When he is considering something, Yibo just makes a decision on it, usually taking into account the same considerations Xiao Zhan had been ruminating over. He figures it might be an occupational hazard because being wishy washy on the track at 200 miles per hour would probably get you killed. Whatever it is, every single time he witnesses it, he grows to like and appreciate it more and more. “Which metal?”

Yibo hums, leaning into the taller man and looping his arm around him. The man is so slim his hand is placed quite comfortably against the thick glass counter. “I like the rose gold on you.”

“I like it too. Do you want us to match?”

“Up to you, gege. Our wedding bands are identical already since that’s the important one. Anything else is just a bonus.” 

He parks his chin on Xiao Zhan’s shoulder and purses his mouth, asking for a kiss which the older man gives willingly, forgetting their audience for one second but it doesn’t last long.

Both men ignore the giggling going on around them. 

“Platinum for you.” 

“Mn,” Yibo smiles as he picks up the heavy ring, weighing it in his hand before putting it back on the velvet tray. He turns his attention to the manager waiting patiently. “Rose gold with the one diamond please.”

“Diamond?”

“The plain one is too plain for you, gege.” Yibo pouts a little. “Think of me when you look at the solo diamond.”

Xiao Zhan can feel the heat in his ears and hear the titters of the salesgirls around them. Even though the manager had effectively taken over, they are all still paying very close attention. 

“Alright,” he agrees looking at the lady manager trying to hide her smile. “Whatever he wants.”

She nods and asks for their index ring fingers and she sizes them right then before informing them that unless they wanted anything else, they should be able to pick up their rings within the hour.

“We’re paying for each other’s rings, by the way,” Yibo murmurs into his shoulder after the lady manager walks away. “Do you want anything else?”

“I haven’t thought of anything but we can look around.”

They end up leaving the shop with a rose gold Juste un Clou bracelet for Xiao Zhan _to match his ring_ and a Panthère de Cartier white gold necklace for Yibo _because you kept going back to look at it_.

—

Brunch had to be curtailed when Yibo noticed a photographer taking photos of them. Annoyed enough that Xiao Zhan had to stop him from confronting the girl with the camera, they had ended up just getting some streetfood and eating it in the lobby while waiting for their 11am appointment with the marriage registrar.

“Did you want some of the fishcake?”

Yibo nods with a smile, his cheeks full of food as he watches Xiao Zhan place some slices onto his noodles. The food isn’t that great, but the company is amazing so he doesn’t really care. They are already wearing their rings since they will be doing nothing more than signing papers with the registrar as their witness. Every time he sees the flash of the tri-coloured ring, something settles warmly over his heart.

He notices Xiao Zhan staring at his own ring, and he swallows his food quickly.

“Penny for your thoughts, gege?”

The older man looks up, smiling softly. “Just…I’m half worried I’m going to wake up in the morning and find out I dreamt this. That I wanted it to be true so much that it really isn’t.”

“Is your imagination so great it could have conjured up a motorcycle ride?”

“Definitely not.”

“Then you’re fine,” Yibo scoots closer to the older man. “You are fine, right gege?” His smile falters. “Did I pressure you into this?”

Xiao Zhan leans forward and presses a warm, spicy seafood noodle soup kiss to Yibo’s mouth. “Baobei, I run my own company. I’ve done so since I was 21. No one can really _make_ me do anything if I didn’t want to do it,” he pauses when Yibo arches his brow. “Except for my mother. Mothers don’t count.”

Yibo laughs and pecks his own black bean noodle flavoured kiss to Xiao Zhan’s mouth. “Agreed. Mothers don’t count.”

“Are you…are you nervous?”

“I don’t know if nervous is the right word for it,” Yibo replies with a thoughtful smile. “It’s more of anticipation. Like, right. This is it. This is your leap of faith. You get one chance, Wang Yibo. Make sure you make it count.” His smile widens a little, curling up at the ends. “That’s how I feel.”

“I’m feeling like there’s a thousand butterflies in my belly trying to get out.”

Yibo winces at the analogy. “Ge…I have a confession.”

“Right now?”

“I don’t do very well with bugs.”

Xiao Zhan pauses for a moment before he understands why the younger man brings it up. “Even butterflies?”

Yibo drops his chopsticks into the now empty container and ties it up, nodding and grimacing at the same time. “You can’t see it but my hair is seriously already standing on end.” He rubs his arm with his free hand. “Ugh…anything with more than two legs.” He looks imploringly at the older man. “I really hope you don’t mind bugs because I’m telling you right now, I’m not going to be the superhero husband catching spiders for you. I’m the trophy wife running screaming from them and needing to be rescued.”

“Tr-trophy w-wife?” Xiao Zhan couldn’t even tell himself why he’s stuttering.

The teenager suddenly grins and flutters his eyelashes. “Don’t I make a pretty trophy wife, gege?” He leans in still batting his eyes, making a pouty face. “You are a CEO and I am a nubile young thing. What else would people think?” He teases, waiting for his kiss which comes swiftly but all too brief.

“I think you’ve been reading too many harlequin romances,” Xiao Zhan draws back from the kiss, shaking his head ruefully as he too drops his chopsticks into his container and ties up the bowl. He takes Yibo’s rubbish too and gets up to dispose of it.

By the time he returns, Yibo is already waiting with a bottle of ice cold soda from the vending machine in the hallway. 

“Share?” Yibo offers the drink. “I didn’t have enough small change.”

“Mn.” Xiao Zhan nods, taking the drink.

“Xiao Zhan? Wang Yibo?”

“Here,” they both reply in unison, giggling together as they follow the lady, hands linked.

—

The entire process is about as unromantic as it could have been, over in less than ten minutes with perfunctory questions being asked of each of them. However, you wouldn’t have been able to tell from their bright eyes and clutching hands, each of them holding a duplicate of their marriage certificate that they had just signed in triplicate. One would be kept by the State.

“Am I Xiao Yibo now?” Yibo asks curiously as he looks at the piece of paper. They are walking hand in hand back to the elevator that will take them to the parking garage. “You know, I didn’t really think about that.”

“You’re still Wang Yibo,” Xiao Zhan laughs. “You can change it but it’s not necessary. I can change mine too if you want.”

“I thought I was a trophy wife?” Yibo pouts cutely.

“What is it with you and trophy wives?”

The teenager just laughs as they enter the elevator, pushing the older man against a wall and pressing a searing kiss upon him. 

They only part when someone clears their throat, finding that they had apparently ridden the elevator up and down enough times for someone to complain about it, hence the throat clearing.

Hand in hand and giggling madly, they finally exit into the parking garage. 

“Where to now, husband? Your chariot awaits.” Yibo sinks into a deep bow right next to his bike, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I need to pick up a couple of thumb drives from work but we can go home after that.”

“Home,” Yibo climbs astride his bike and puts on his helmet. “I like the sound of that.”

Xiao Zhan waits until Yibo has his booted feet planted firmly on either side of the bike before climbing on. He’s getting to be rather good at this, his long legs making it easy to climb across the high pillion seat of the Yamaha R something or other without unbalancing the bike.

“Mn. Maybe we should get a carload done from your place before we return home. That should be most of your non-furniture things, right?”

Yibo laughs at that. “Exactly what kind of car do you think I drive, gege? Mama’s car might be better.”

Xiao Zhan sighs loudly. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a Lamborghini. Please don’t tell me you have one of those.”

“Nope.”

“Nope what? Nope you don’t have one of those?”

“Nah, I just have an Audi.”

“Audi…that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Mmhmmm,” Yibo just smiles. “Hold on tight.”

—

“Oh my god. Paparazzi shots of Wang Yibo! Do you know how fucking rare these are? Half the time I’m not even sure he really exists. Holy shit they’re from today!”

Meng Ziyi’s ears perk up but she doesn’t move to investigate. She is hot desking on the first floor of their offices, deciding to pop in to do some work since Lulu is out as well anyway. After ascertaining that the tainted floor from the lice scare is on the second floor, she makes certain not to go anywhere near that floor.

“My boyfriend still has no idea the only reason I even pay attention to his motor racing obsession is because of Yibo and it’s his own bloody fault. He kept going on about how Yibo was so far ahead in some race last year that even with his back tire nearly going out and him literally limping to the finish line, he still won. He was watching the press conference and let me tell you, that Wang Yibo quite literally had me at hello,” the senior designer fans herself, amusing her colleagues surrounding her. “His voice is so low and sexy it’s ridiculous. How does anyone get the whole package. Racing talent, voice and he is good looking as fuck. So good looking he’s also a part time model.”

“Come on, share with the class. I wanna see.”

“He looks like an idol!”

“Damn, I didn’t know he was dating.”

“How do you know that’s not just a friend?”

“I’ve seen him carry pillion riders and none of them hold him like that. Not even his own mother.”

“This paparazzi sucks, you can’t even see the guy’s face!”

“After that glare Yibo sent to whoever was taking the photo, I think the person probably died on the spot and forgot they were supposed to be trying to take more photos.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! I knew those motorcycle leathers looked familiar. I really don’t think that’s just any friend. That guy he’s with is wearing his own personal leathers. Here, look! The exact same set and Yibo was wearing it last month.”

Several exclamations are heard and Ziyi sighs, picking up her phone to text her wife.

_**10:47 Guess what?** _

**10:47 What?**

_**10:48 Wang Yibo is dating.** _

Her phone rings immediately and she picks it up, holding it a couple of inches from her ear.

_“What do you mean he’s dating!”_

Lulu is speaking in screech.

She was right to have kept it from her ear.

“Exactly that. One of the senior designers is a fan apparently and there was a rare sighting of him from earlier this morning I think.”

“Oh no, what about Zhanzhan? Does he know?”

“I fucking told him to look him up. Now it’s too late. Fuck. He really liked that kid, like seriously really, really, really, liked him even though they’ve literally probably been in each other’s company for a grand total of a couple of hours at most.”

Lulu sighs over the phone as she types into her laptop to google the photos. It takes awhile to find but find them she does.

“Oh no, he looks happy.”

“You found the photos?”

“Yeah, check your email I just sent you the link. You can’t see the guy’s face though. I suppose maybe some paps have scruples since Yibo is the celebrity and whoever he’s with probably isn’t.”

“Should we tell him?”

“Didn’t he have that matchmaking dinner last night? Maybe we should hope it went well,” Lulu remarks dubiously before sighing again as she traces the glare on Yibo’s face. “He’s very protective over whoever this guy is. One photo he’s smiling at the man like he hung the stars, the next he’s caught sight of the photographer and I swear if looks could kill, this person taking the photo would be deader than dead.”

“Fuck.”

“He’s really hot,” Lulu’s voice doesn’t really reflect her words, her tone extremely regretful. “And this is just from a paparazzi shot. We already know he’s not photogenic and he looked so good with Xiao Zhan,” she groans. “We should have pushed harder for him to look for Yibo.”

“We are not taking responsibility for this,” Ziyi replies resolutely, glaring at her laptop screen where she too is looking at the photos. “I don’t know why he was being so stupid about it. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it’s hurting me seeing Yibo this happy with someone else when I swear to everything holy it could and should have been Xiao Zhan.”

“I agree.”

“I might need to be on standby tonight. He hasn’t talked to me about the matchmaking dinner which either meant it went really well or really bad. I wonder if him telling us to stop working on the Monster project had anything to do with his night.”

“Good or bad?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t say. The phone call was really brief. You were already asleep, I forgot to mention it to you this morning.”

“Maybe we should both go crash at his place tonight.”

“I’ll send out some feelers and let you know.”

“Okay, love you. Don’t let this ruin your day.”

“I won’t. Love you too.”

—

“Is Laoban dating?” Chen Zhuoxuan asks Meng Ziyi curiously. While she works primarily with Xiao Zhan’s teams, she does help out Meng Ziyi on occasion when she is needed. “Actually, scratch that. From what I saw, it looks like it’s been awhile. How long has Laoban been dating and how come he’s never introduced him?”

“Him? Dating?” Meng Ziyi looks over the tops of her glasses at the cheerful woman. “What do you mean? I know he had a matchmaking dinner last night but he was pretty annoyed at his mother for meddling. As far as I know, he hasn’t dated anyone since college.”

Zhuoxuan looks even more curious now. “College? That’s a long time ago.”

Ziyi laughs. “He was one of those who seriously got all the partying out of his system in college and then decided he never ever wants to do anything remotely close again. He’s practically Tang Seng.”

The junior web designer’s expression morphs into amusement. “He was definitely _not_ a monk when I saw him. He didn’t see me because he was too busy sucking face with some hot guy but they pulled apart long enough for me to see his face and as we all know, there’s very few people with a face like his.

“Wait a minute. Are you sure?”

She nods. “They were just outside. I saw them from a distance originally and noticed the sexy motorbike first. Laoban was riding pillion obviously and he hopped off and took off his helmet. The other guy took his off too and then, well, cue sucking face,” she laughs. “I’m sure I wasn’t the only who tried but failed to look away. There was quite an audience but I don’t think they noticed.”

“An audience? To what? Have you been chasing celebrities again?” Xiao Zhan teases from the doorway, startling both women. Glancing over at Ziyi, he does a thumbs up sign with his left hand. “I just dropped in to grab a few things. I’m working from home the rest of the week.” Returning his attention to a slightly goggle eyed Chen Zhuoxuan, he grins at her. “I ordered lunch for everyone so let them know not to make plans. I know it’s a bit last minute. Also, I sent a message to the team working on the Monster Energy thing telling them to be at my place tonight after dinner for a debrief. Zizi, bring Lulu. I told them eight o’clock.” 

The two women watch a little stunned as the man leaves the room almost as quickly as he came in.

“Was that?”

“It was.”

“Wait…what’s going on?”

Meng Ziyi is already out of her chair. “You can bet I’m about to find out.”

—

She doesn’t get to find out though. She’s not sure what kind of vanishing act Xiao Zhan just did but vanish he did. She even ventures into the diseased second floor space and she is still mulling over where he could have disappeared to when a loud motorbike engine starts up and revs outside.

Meng Ziyi isn’t the only one rushing to the windows especially after the last hour of _Wang Yibo this and Wang Yibo that_ going on in their offices. The sound of the motorcycle is definitely not of a normal one but a super bike.

“Holy fuck that’s Wang Yibo!”

“How do you know?”

“That’s his bike! The one from earlier hurry up! Shit shit my hands are shaking so much I can’t snap a photo.”

“That guy is still with him.”

“Why would he be in this neighbourhood? There’s nothing here apart from a random mix of offices and some average restaurants.”

“Why indeed,” Ziyi frowns. She didn’t get a good look, only seeing the brief side view before he rode off and she’d have to take the senior designer’s word for it that it is Yibo. She can’t even be sure if the guy riding pillion is Xiao Zhan. Honestly, she’s starting to lose her own damn mind over her friend’s love life.

She can’t have imagined the ring though, could she?

Turning around, she goes looking for Zhuoxuan to verify if she didn’t imagine the tri-layered ring on Xiao Zhan’s wedding finger. 

—

Xiao Zhan stares at the car in consternation. “ _Just an Audi_ , my ass.” He feels a little betrayed at having been taken in so easily.

Yibo checks out said ass. “Your ass is better than my Audi.”

“Bite your tongue.”

“How about I bite yours instead?”

“Wang Yibo!”

“Husband.”

The CEO scrunches his nose cutely before crossing his leather clad arms across his chest and attempting a frown. “Don’t you dare try and distract me.”

The teenager crowds the older man against his car. “I wasn’t trying, _husband_ ,” his voice low and sultry and basically dripping sex.

Xiao Zhan cannot hide the full body shiver the word pulls from him. He’s still partially convinced it’s some kinda of complicated dream and he’s finally delirious from sleepless nights and overworking. In that moment however, he likely couldn’t tell you want he did for a living as a hot mouth slants over his, a warm broad body pinning him to the sleek curves of a baby supercar.

—

“I still can’t believe you’re letting him get married so quickly.”

“Letting? Jiejie, we are talking about Yibo,” she chuckles as she reverses smoothly, parking her car without any need to realign it. “He’s been making his own decisions about his life since he turned 16. You know this.”

“Yes, but marriage…”

“I’m the last person who can judge anyone on getting married since mine was based on nothing but an unfortunate latex failure. He’s got a lot more going for him at least. I ran the program again this morning and added more requirements and it still came back as 97%.”

Madam Kim-Jung stares out of the window in consternation and a healthy amount of fascination. “Uh…Is Yibo home?”

She turns to her friend in the passenger seat. “You know he isn’t.” They had met up for lunch to discuss taking on more clients and decided to return to her home so the older lady can get a start on the narrowing down the pool. While they normally do not work on more than one client at a time, the wait list is getting a little absurd. 

Madam Kim-Jung hums before tilting her head and using her chin to point at something outside the car. “Then maybe you should tell him about the two guys making out on his car.”

Startled, she turns to look. She stares for a full thirty seconds before she starts laughing. “Don’t judge me for not being able to recognise my own son seeing as I’ve never seen him like this, but I think that’s actually him.”

“Well I can’t judge you for something when I’ve known him since he was a baby and I’m not sure either though for the sole reason that they are practically _on the car_. I can barely walk past that damn car without the brat telling me to mind my buckles.”

Laughing harder at the miffed tone of her best friend, she pats her arm. “To be absolutely fair, you did scratch his car that one time with your handbag.”

“It wasn’t even this car! And that was in New Zealand!”

“He has the memory of an elephant for certain things.”

“Obviously.”

They watch in silence.

“I hope that’s Xiao Zhan.” Madam Kim-Jung narrows her eyes at the man practically being bent over backwards over the gleaming red car. “His hair is too short. I took his profile photo myself during the interview and it wasn’t that short.”

“Who else would it be?” Yibo’s mother taps her car horn thrice.

Neither of them come up for air.

Madam Kim-Jung starts giggling at her friends flabbergasted expression. “Well, we did agree it was a sure thing.”

“They’re like cats in heat or something. Do I need to hose them down? I think there might be a fire hose around here somewhere. Or maybe someone left their hose after washing their car.” Mrs Wang is quite serious though her eyes are gleaming with amusement.

“I don’t think there’s anyone else in this garage, why don’t you put more into that horn.”

She does.

Their mouths part but their bodies don’t.

She taps her horn three more times and watches as her son leans away enough for the man below him to stand properly. She flashes her lights when Yibo’s gaze wanders around the garage and lands on her car.

The recognition is immediate and both women watch the teenager lean into the taller man, whispering unnecessarily close. The man’s head whips up so quickly to stare at their car, eyes wide and looking like he’d just been caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar that both women are chuckling as they exit the car. Short hair or not, there are very few people who look like Xiao Zhan and they both recognise him.

—

“You two really went and did it, huh?” The matchmaker eyes the matching rings on their left hands. She laughingly pushes Yibo away when the brat gets all up in her face waving his fingers to show off the thick band. She definitely pushes him away when he plants a big ol’ wet kiss on her cheek. “Wang Yibo!”

Cackling loudly, he turns to Xiao Zhan. “One down, one to go.” He starts whistling before calling out in a sing-song voice. “Mama oh mama where are youuuuuuu.”

Left alone with the son of her former client, she arches a well groomed eyebrow. “You know, I have a small suspicion as to why your match was near absolute.” She leans forward, studying the handsome CEO now sans leather jacket and just wearing a simple short sleeved shirt. “Were you by any chance thinking about him when you answered the questions?”

Xiao Zhan leans away and studies the older woman. She had spent over three hours interviewing him and that was on top of the detailed questionnaire he had to fill out even before the interview. Even if he had been annoyed at the amount of time taken from him, he had been quite impressed by the breadth and depth of the questions. And thanks to the amount of money his mother had put out, he had done his best to answer all of them as truthfully as he could.

“I wasn’t specifically thinking of him,” he starts, pausing to find the right words. Since the interview had been fairly recent, he does remember it clearly enough. “But he did cross my mind during most of it, whether fleeting or sustained, but most of the thoughts were regretful.”

“Regretful?”

“That I didn’t try to look for him.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He shrugs, looking down and playing with his wedding ring. “He called me a stalker the second time we met and while I didn’t take it personally at the time, it definitely made me think he didn’t want someone to do that, so I didn’t.”

“If you had an inkling that he _wanted_ you to search him out?”

Xiao Zhan looks up at her, his heart in his eyes. “Then I would have looked for him.” He sighs ruefully. “You know I only found out he was nineteen last night?”

“Mmm…she did mention your mother told her that.” She looks around, both Wangs still nowhere to be found. “In all fairness, it’s not your fault. I think he’s been treated like he was 18 since he was 14. He’s always been a serious kid and it was near impossible to get him to move on from anything. If he wanted something, he’d get it, somehow, some way.” She looks the CEO over and then pointedly at the ring he is still playing with. “And he definitely wanted you.”

“Wants, Auntie. Present tense.”

Yibo surprises Xiao Zhan by hopping over the back of the couch and landing lightly in his lap. Perched on the older man’s knee, he leans forward and grabs the bottle of fizzy and takes a quick sip before replacing it on the coaster and turning to Xiao Zhan with a small pout. “Mama won’t let me kiss her so I need you to grab her so I can plant one on her when she’s trapped.”

“What?” Xiao Zhan asks, his voice startled. “I’m not doing that to your mother!”

“Why not? Spousal privilege,” Yibo declares firmly with an absolute certainty that he cannot _and should not_ be gainsaid. 

“Aiya…baobei, I already told you that’s not how spousal privilege works.” Xiao Zhan chuckles and squeezes the pouting teenager, lowering his voice. “And you know she has good reason to avoid being kissed.”

Madam Kim-Jung wrinkles her nose and takes out a kerchief to wipe at her cheek. It’s too late of course.

She is joined by her friend and they watch as the newlyweds exchange quiet whispers, catching some words every now and again but the two of them are in a world of their own creation. 

They watch Yibo pout more than they have ever seen him do so in any single day. It is a behaviour he only indulges around them but in those few minutes, both of them might as well be invisible. 

They watch while Xiao Zhan speaks in a low tone, one corner of his mouth constantly tugged up in a tiny smile.

They watch as Yibo plays with the rose gold ring on Xiao Zhan index finger as he listens intently, still wearing a pout but nodding every now and again at whatever his husband is saying to him.

They watch as Yibo turns into Xiao Zhan, cupping his hand over his ear and doing his own whispering back.

And they watch as Xiao Zhan slowly turns into a tomato.

They can both hazard an educated guess as to what Yibo is saying to the older man.

—

The four of them are sitting in a circle in the living room with takeout bowls shared in between them.

Xiao Zhan and Yibo had ended up spending the afternoon with his mum and auntie, packing and moving things. Turns out, Yibo had gotten the master suite because he had pointed out to his mother that he is _a teenager with needs_. Mrs Wang had gotten everyone howling with laughter (except her son), with her perfect deadpan imitation of him, complete with unblinking phoenix eyes staring intently at whoever he wants to bend to his will. Yibo definitely got his eyes from her.

“I swear, he said it so seriously, like I would be the one regretting not letting him have that room with the attached bathroom.” She snorts, waving her spoon. “Honestly, Xiao Zhan. You need to be firm with this one otherwise you’ll find yourself paragliding before you even figure out how the safety equipment got put on you without your permission because let me tell you that has 100% happened to me. He could convince a monk to leave the monastery.”

“Would you rather find crusty socks under the bed?” Yibo shoots back at his mother with a growl that is completely ruined by the fact that his lips are quite swollen, and he is basically in a perpetual pout, from inadvertently taking Xiao Zhan’s curry instead of his own milder version earlier. Japanese curries are apparently very good at hiding their levels of spiciness.

“Since my staff call me Tang Seng behind my back, I guess that’s rather apt.”

Yibo chokes on his yoghurt drink. “You? A monk? Since whe—”

A hand is smashed over his overly friendly mouth as Xiao Zhan smiles widely at the two smirking women. “So…uh jiejie do you need help moving anything else?”

—

“Why don’t you drive my car so I can take my bike?”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes are as wide as saucers as he eyes the red car. “I have no idea how to drive a stick.”

“It’s not a stick. It’s a seven speed dual clutch transmission.”

The CEO’s eyes glaze over as he sees his life passing by. One clutch is bad enough. Who the fuck needs two?

“Wang Yibo, stop scaring your husband,” Mrs Wang chides, smacking her son firmly in the entire of his back and making him yelp. “Auntie already kindly called your bodyguard geges. They need to know where you live anyway so they’ll bring over your stuff tomorrow morning. Does that work?”

Xiao Zhan’s loud sigh of relief is not missed by anyone and Yibo chuckles. “I guess you won’t want a spin on the track then?”

“If you want me to spin _off_ the track, sure.” 

“I meant as a passenger,” Yibo laughs. “They won’t let you on anything motorised unless it’s an electric scooter.”

“Is this really enough?” Madam Kim-Jung arrives wheeling a large suitcase. She had been sitting on it while on the phone when they had started wandering out of the apartment and she had waved them off, gesticulating that she would take the suitcase with her.

Yibo points to the teeshirt underneath his unzipped leathers. “This is his. We’re basically the same size so it’s not an issue.”

“He’s wider.”

“You’re taller.”

“I hope we’re still talking about clothes here.”

Three people take a few seconds to process what Mrs Wang had just intimated and Xiao Zhan promptly pulls his helmet on to hide behind the mirrored visor. When Yibo had told him his mother was more blunt than his dad, he didn’t think the teenager’s arguably teenaged tendency to find dirty innuendoes in everything to come from his mother of all people. He really should have known considering the condom box throwing shenanigans. 

“Gege has already let security know your car is associated with our apartment so you shouldn’t have a problem following behind us,” Yibo instructs as he climbs astride his bike. 

Xiao Zhan, still wearing his helmet, gives both ladies a thumbs up as if agreeing with the young man before he climbs up behind him rather expertly, making his new mother-in-law grin. Her grin widens when her son tells his husband to hug him tighter before giving her a jaunty wave and revving his engine. 

The two ladies quickly put the suitcase in her car and follow behind the waiting teenager.

“Our apartment?”

“You caught that huh?”

“Xiao Zhan didn’t protest.”

“He outright agreed.”

“Should we ask them about a prenup?”

“We can ask, but I doubt it’ll happen.”

“How much is Xiao Zhan worth?”

“Well, let’s just say your Yibaobao will still be dressed in whatever branded goods he wants even if he stops modelling. That Cartier panther Xiao Zhan bought him because, according to the man himself, _he wouldn’t stop looking at it_? I did a quick search. It costs almost _four hundred thousand_. He lives in an upmarket property, penthouse no less but he’s not one of those showy guys. He doesn’t even own a car and sometimes even takes the train to work.”

“So he doesn’t spend on himself except for his home, but he dropped four hundred grand because my son kept staring at something?”

“Yes.”

“Good thing Yibo is already quite in love with him then. He can be pretty bad when it’s one-sided. Remember all those poor girls in his high school? I still can’t believe the brat _expected_ to be doted on without giving anything in return.”

“At least he stopped accepting their gifts when you pointed it out,” she reminds her friend. “I wonder how long it’ll take for them to realise they both entered this marriage already in love.”

—

“Should we get a prenup?” Yibo frowns. “Or post-nup?” His mother and aunt had just left the apartment and left them with something to think about. “I have some investments and shit cos mum insisted that I don’t just waste all my money buying bikes and cars, but you probably have more to lose than I do, not that I’m going anywhere.”

Xiao Zhan has a rather cross expression on his face as he beckons to the younger man. His expression softens when Yibo slides into his arms immediately, resting his cheek against his jaw. He can hear and feel the teenager sighing against his ear as both their bodies relax into the embrace. The women had voiced the lack of a prenup in passing, but the fact that they had, bothered him immensely. As irrational as it might be, and he feels that he should be allowed to be irrational in some things, even if Yibo were to leave him or if something were to happen, he is quite certain neither of them are the kind to take the other to the cleaners. 

His arms squeeze his young spouse, banishing the thoughts from his mind. He doesn’t want an inauspicious start. The whole day had been going really well in his mind up until this little blip.

“I’m a little superstitious,” Xiao Zhan starts, rubbing Yibo’s back gently. “I don’t want to talk about this because it feels like if you talk about it, then something bad will happen so I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You do know that’s quite illogical.” Yibo murmurs, nuzzling in deeper, his lips caressing the fleshy lobe of Xiao Zhan’s ear. “Although I never really thought a CEO of any type would be superstitious.”

“You’d be surprised. The more successful you are, the more worried you are about losing it all.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ditto.”

—

Xiao Zhan is frowning a little as he opens his front door and finds both his best friend and her wife. “I said eight.”

“Hello to you too, grumpy pants,” Ziyi flicks his nose with her finger and pushes her way in. 

Lulu sends him an apologetic smile at least though her eyes are too bright with interest, immediately going for his hand.

Her squeal could probably wake the dead.

“Zizi! You weren’t dreaming!”

The man pulls his hand free, shaking his head. “Honestly, what is wrong with the two of you?”

Ziyi grabs him by the wrist and shoves his own hand into his face. “This. Explain. Now.”

“I got married.”

She turns to her grinning wife. “He got married,” she repeats sarcastically.

Once again pulling his hand free, he points them towards the kitchen. “It’s a very short story.” His voice is perfectly normal. “Matchmaker dinner last night turned out to be accurate about the sure thing so we got married this morning.”

“What the fuck do you mean you got married this morning? What about Yibo? I haven’t spent months watching you mooning after _a fucking memory of him_ for you to marry the first goddamn attractive dick that walks into your peripheral vision.”

Xiao Zhan is saved from replying when a blood curdling shriek echoes from the mezzanine floor. Both his friends were looking at him when it happened and the absolute terror on his face in that split second freezes them enough for him to push past them.

He doesn’t get further than the bottom of his stairs though as a man streaks buck naked half running half sliding down the stairs and slams straight into his arms and does his level best to try and burrow right into him.

“Gege,” the voice is cracked, broken and muffled against Xiao Zhan’s throat.

“Shhhhh, baobei.” Xiao Zhan wraps his arms tightly around the man, his own heart beating so fast he thinks he’s the one in need of comforting instead of the one offering the comfort. Yibo is damp, wet from his shower and as he looks up the expanse of stairs to the mezzanine, he wonders if he needs to carpet the fucking floor. His brain is manifesting all kinds of horrible scenarios of Yibo slipping on the wood and his arms tighten even more, turning his face inward to kiss whatever skin he can find. He whispers nonsensical words of comfort as he holds the man that has so quickly become an absolute part of his life that even thinking about a day without him, _hurts_. 

His guests are completely forgotten.

Yibo is shivering, shaking, feeling like the smallest kid afraid of the dumbest thing. He remembers one time he was driving and ants had started coming out of the air conditioning vents and he had nearly driven into a tree, trying not to freak out while yelping as he smacked one fucking ant after the other as they came out. To this day he has a pre-start routine and cannot drive without tapping the dashboard and lowering the visor to check if any creepy crawlies were going to come out. No one is allowed to consume anything in his car and he barely carries groceries in it for the sole reason that bugs might follow the food. 

While all those random thoughts are neither here nor there, he is trying to remind himself that his fear of bugs is not something new. It’s not something he can explain. And it certainly isn’t anything to be embarrassed about. However he is also certain his new husband hasn’t a clue how much he truly dislikes bugs and he is about to find out. 

“Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” Xiao Zhan draws back, cupping a hand to the teenager’s jaw and seeing the sheen in his eyes. He leans down to kiss him, both of them instinctively keeping it relatively chaste, just licking at each other’s mouths before pulling apart. “What’s wrong?”

Yibo pouts. “It’s my bug fear. You’ll laugh at me and think I’m a silly kid.”

Xiao Zhan’s brow furrows. “How about I tell you about a new fear I just discovered.”

Yibo nuzzles in, licking at the corner of Xiao Zhan’s mouth. “What, gege?”

“You, slipping on those fucking stairs and braining yourself on the railing.”

The teenager’s hitching laughter is loud in the vast, very silent apartment. “Ah, yes, I shall try not to do it again if you promise to stay in the bedroom while I’m showering or better yet,” he steps deeper into the older man and licks his way from his jawline to his ear. “Why don’t you join me?”

Lulu is fanning her face while Ziyi is just gaping.

Full on gaping.

Xiao Zhan’s hands are curved around the man’s waist and rather muscular ass. She can actually _see_ the lines of his glutes. Not that she’s looking. Not really.

They’ve both also gotten a rather large eyeful earlier and well, she supposes if he was going to marry a dick, it might as well be a big one.

She clears her throat.

Both men let out extremely unmanly squeals of fright and spend a few seconds scrambling trying to protect each other from whatever the threat is. They somehow end up back in their original position, hugging each other and turned in full consternation towards the giggling females in the kitchen.

“Zizi, what the fuck?” Xiao Zhan bellows, glaring at his laughing friend.

“I think you forgot we were here.”

Yibo looks at the female he hasn’t actually been introduced to, waves his fingers at Lulu in greeting and grinning when she waves back, before turning to press a kiss to his husband’s mole. 

“Did you forget, gege?” His voice is practically dripping in amusement.

“Maybe,” he admits, kissing Yibo’s nose. 

“And you forgot you’re naked.” Lulu observes with a chuckle.

The teenager’s laughter is loud when Xiao Zhan immediately moves so that he is the human wall in the way of wandering eyes. 

“I didn’t forget. I’m not exactly a shy wallflower.”

“Please don’t me you’re a nudist on some secret exhibitionist. I have to draw the line somewhere.”

“Neither but hey I’m home. I like freeballing remember?”

“Too much information!” Meng Ziyi hollers waving her arms. “You must be the husband. I’m Ziyi.”

“I guessed as much since I recognise Mrs Ziyi,” he grins and perches his chin on Xiao Zhan’s shoulder. “I’m going to borrow gege for a few minutes. You can have him back after that.”

Both females’ eyebrows reach their hairlines when Xiao Zhan unbuttons his shirt and hands it to his husband. With one topless and one bottomless, they somehow manage to make it back up the stairs with neither of them getting another eyeful.

“So.”

“I’m sure there’s a longer story there.”

“Wang Yibo was the match and the sure thing. What were the chances?”

“One in however many billion people there are currently in China,” Ziyi remarks, shaking her head. “Really, they met in New Zealand over two years ago and now they’re married in China.”

“See?” Lulu leans into her wife and kisses her nose. “Told you if it was meant to be, it’ll be.”

—

Xiao Zhan makes absolutely no comment on the spider the size of his little toe nail. In fact, he doesn’t tell the teenager he’d seen it earlier either and considered moving it but figured it would be too small to bother Yibo.

He does allow himself to get pulled under the wet spray though and since he’s already wet and all, he might as well have another shower.

Or, Yibo can always give him an actual reason to shower.

He isn’t saying no to a husband very appreciative at being rescued from an _eight-legged monster_.

—

“Funny how a few minutes turned into almost half an hour,” Ziyi comments nonchalantly. “Everyone’s already here by the way. I sat them in the living room on the horrible seats.”

“Someone made a crack about Zizi being your wife too,” Lulu remarks. “Such a good wife welcoming them at the door and giving them food and drink. I know neither of us took that well, so do I need to warn Yibo?”

“To her face?” Xiao Zhan asks, shocked. 

“No.”

“Who was it?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Ziyi shakes her head. “We have work to do and they do good work.”

“I don’t need shit like that. Who was it?”

After a few seconds of hesitation, his best friend tells him.

Two minutes later, Xiao Zhan is walking the man to the door.

“You didn’t need to do that.”

“You’re the reason I even have this company. I don’t need this misogynist fucking bullshit. You may be okay with it, though really, I know you aren’t. I sure as fuck am not okay with it.”

“Not okay with what?” Yibo asks, bounding down the stairs lightly, a lollipop in his mouth.

Ziyi grins when she sees him. “I definitely recognise you now with that lollipop and your clothes on.”

“Mn.” He pops out his lollipop and waves at her with is. “So what’s happened?” He slides into Xiao Zhan’s side and turns the man bodily to face him. “What’s wrong, gege?”

Xiao Zhan summarises it for him and by the time he’s done, Yibo’s expression is glacial. 

Turning to Ziyi, he does a ninety degree bow before straightening. “If I ever refer to you or any female in a derogatory manner, you have my permission to punch me because clearly I was possessed by some evil fucking spirit.” He cocks his head. “Also, I’ve got a black belt so if anyone needs an ass whooping, I’m available.”

Both ladies shake their heads. Lulu loops her arm through his. “Why don’t I introduce you since we’re both the very capable spouses. We don’t have to stay while they talk shop so maybe we can go find something to do.”

“Do you like games?”

“What kind of games?”

“There’s this video game we could play together. Maybe we can sit on the corner couch so we don’t bother them cos I wanna stay and see what gege does.”

“Sure,” Lulu grins as they round the corner.

They both hear a very loud _hi, I’m Xiao Zhan’s trophy wife._

The shocked squeals start a few seconds later, likely after the shock passed.

“Fuck. I forgot he’s got fans in there.”

“Fans?” Xiao Zhan’s eyes boggle at his friend before heading off quickly to rescue his husband.

—

“Can’t sleep?”

“Just thinking,” Xiao Zhan plays with Yibo’s hair. 

“About?”

“You.”

The teenager grins sleepily and snuggles closer, nosying into a nipple that just happens to be right there to be nosied into. “Keep at it then.”

“Today has been a pretty crazy day.”

“Mn. Fullest day I’ve had in awhile and my days are normally jam packed though I guess not my off days.”

“I forgot to ask, did you have anything to do with Monster Energy deciding to just provide the same information I had to everyone else so we would still be considered?”

“I just told them you’re my husband. Also told them Rossi and Hamilton will be using you for their individual designs.”

“They are?” _Who are they again?_

“Mn. Sorry, you distracted me rather thoroughly after everyone left, I forgot to tell you but the paperwork will probably come in tomorrow.”

Xiao Zhan is a lot more flabbergasted than he lets on. Squeezing the teenager and kissing his forehead, he smiles when Yibo practically purrs against him. “Are you making sure your investment is secure?”

Raising his head, the teenager rests his chin on Xiao Zhan’s chest. They had left a couple of lights on downstairs because of Yibo’s total darkness issue so he can make out the features of the older man. “I didn’t want you to lose business because of me. Neither of them were fussed either way and in fact, since they know me and I’m vouching for you, they’d rather go with someone they know than someone they don’t so it wasn’t a hard sell by any stretch of the imagination.”

“I’m sure it’s a bigger deal than you’re letting on.”

The teenager shrugs. “What husband would I be if I didn’t help mine? Plus, it also means I get to hang out with you for legitimate reasons since you’re working with me so it’s an all win all round in my book.”

“Speaking of which, Zizi has agreed to cover for me if someone is needed in the office when I’m away with you.”

“I’ll call her and thank her in the morning.”

“Such a good boy.” Xiao Zhan teases. “Would you make a good puppy?”

“Mn. Your puppy.” Yibo starts humping his thigh half playfully but really, their triggers are just much too easy at the moment and he is swarming up Xiao Zhan’s body in seconds, holding himself over the man. “Are you taking responsibility?”

The older man lets out a hoarse chuckle as he runs his hand down the front of Yibo’s body stopping just shy of his burgeoning cock. “Don’t you want to know why I was thinking of you when you first asked?”

“Why were you thinking of me?”

“I think…I think I am already quite in love with you.”

Yibo leans down and presses a sweet kiss to the man’s dry lips. “It’s about time you caught up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Caught up with me, because my answer is _ditto_.”

**~~~Coda~~~**

No matter how many times they do this, it never gets any easier. Two wheels or four wheels, it especially makes no difference to Xiao Zhan. His heart is always in his throat, his attention unwavering, and he can never breathe properly until he is safely over the finish line.

“Papa, too tight,” the little girl in a pink princess outfit pouts at her parent. She had been dozing on his shoulder because it’s well into her afternoon nap time but disruptions like this during the weekends have been a part of her life for as long as she can remember that as long as she has at least one parent, she’s fine. She is an absolute vision in her soft pink chiffon dress made by Auntie Lulu. The tiny jewelled combs secured to her French braid, artfully arranged into a small tiara were a gift from Auntie Zizi and they catch the sunlight, blinding anyone nearby if they happened to be in the way of the reflection of the tiny but genuine diamonds in her hair. So far, the main victims have been her own family. 

“Here, give her over. Why don’t you go down to the track? They’re almost done.” Mr Wang offers to take his granddaughter who blows him a sweet kiss but shakes her head.

“No. Stay with Papa,” out comes the pout, even deeper than before. She’s definitely learned a thing or two from both her parents.

Xiao Zhan’s eyes have not left the track and if he were to move from his spot, he will lose sight of it for a few seconds and even those few seconds are too precious to him so he too shakes his head.

“It’s alright. I’ll go down when the race ends. I’ll have enough time anyway.”

“See Daddy?”

“Mn. Yes, love. We will see Daddy.”

The little princess perks up immediately and turns to her grandmother. “Daddy!”

The woman laughs and tiptoes to give the angel a kiss on her nose. “Didn’t you just see him this morning? So happy to see your Daddy again?”

She pats the parent carrying her. “Papa miss Daddy.”

“Mn.”

The toddler beams at his hum and her little arms tighten around his neck as she plants a soft kiss on his slightly scratchy cheek. She’s quite good at interpreting the non-verbal cues of both parents despite her third birthday still a few months away. 

Suddenly there are excited cheers all around including from both her grandparents although not from the man carrying her. He is busy sending up a prayer of thanks first.

—

The sight of the little princess in pink is not uncommon on the tracks. Most of the people, including those from other teams recognise her and smiles inadvertently follow her wake because who can help it? Trailed by her tall father, she practically swaggers into the busy area expecting the sea of people to part for her because that is just what she knows. 

She catches sight of someone in his bright Christmas coloured racing suit and her high pitched squeal of delight could probably be a weapon of mass destruction in itself. An accompanying chuckle from the parent behind her is lost as two bodies start running towards each other as if they haven’t seen each other in months. To be fair, the last time she saw him was at dinner last night since he was long gone in the morning by the time she woke up at princess o’clock.

“Gege!” She manages to screech before being caught up in the tall little boy’s arms and swung around.

“Did you see? Did you see? We won!”

“Again, again!” She holds on tight, basking in the happiness of the five year old boy. 

Their parents meet just then, exchanging a soft kiss as the shorter man slides into the solid embrace of his older husband.

“He was way ahead this time. They’re talking about promoting him. I said I’d talk to you about it.”

“You know I leave these things to you,” Xiao Zhan replies, pressing his mouth to Yibo’s temple. “Whatever you think is best.”

“He’ll be the youngest and it’ll mean more traveling.”

“What are his chances of winning?”

“It’s not really about that,” Yibo slips his hand underneath his husband’s polo shirt, thumb caressing the warm skin above his waistband. “It’ll be a learning experience for him when he loses. We all need to learn to accept that at some point.”

Xiao Zhan’s chuckle is warm. “I don’t think he’ll have to learn much of that. He’s got your genes.”

Both their eyes are still on their children as their son introduces his sister to some of his friends who have not met her. The normally sassy toddler turns shy, hiding behind her much taller brother, arms securely wrapped around his waist as she peers around him. Her rosy mouth is pulled into a smile and both of them can see the identical mole she has beneath her bottom lip. She even has a similar constellation across her nose that her brother has threatened to connect with a permanent marker on several occasions when particularly exasperated by her antics, unaware of course that their younger parent has done exactly that to their older parent on more than one occasion though not with a permanent marker.

Despite that, the hero worship is evident. She will always be his biggest cheerleader and he will always be her steadfast protector. 

“Hard work is still important.” Yibo turns away from their kids and presses a kiss into the corner of Xiao Zhan’s mouth. “Gucci want them by the way. Auntie called earlier saying her office just received their _entire_ children’s range in their sizes. No obligations apparently, but they saw the magazine spread we did last month though I don’t know why they would be reading MotoGP World.”

Xiao Zhan makes a pained sound. “Why did it have to be Gucci?”

Yibo’s lips are still pressed against the corner of his husband’s mouth and he chuckles against it. “Sorry, baobao. I know. I already said no.”

“Returned the clothes too?”

The younger man draws back with a twinkle in his eye. “What do you think?”

“You are such a brat.”

“Hey, if you had to cloth us all for real we’d be bankrupt by now.”

“Hardly, but whatever you say, champ.”

“Champ? Have some respect,” Yibo grumbles though since he is basically entwined around his husband, his grumbling isn’t taken seriously at all. 

Several jealous gazes are sent their way from various parents whose relationships haven’t weathered the storm of their children’s very serious kart races very well.

“Three-time world champion then.”

“That’s not important.”

“What’s important?”

“Gege’s champion.”

“Always, baobei.”

“I love you.”

“Ditto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that ant story 100% happened to me. I was on the highway and freaking the fuck out. I imagine he likes them even lesser than I do.
> 
> Can't believe I finished another fic and I'm now well over 600k words in 6.5 months in this fandom. I know I mention this practically every time I finish sth but I didn't write anything last year so this is honestly a feat for me and I'm personally quite proud of it. Now...on to try and figure out a plot for bjyx week and finish my modern WangXian T__________T

**Author's Note:**

> Lol so this whole thing could probably be a one shot AGAIN but since my last BJYX fic had so many fade-to-blacks in the last chapter, I asked fyredancer to count the number of places she considered were fade-to-blacks and I’d write her prompt with that number of chapters. This one has been outlined to death (over 1k for an outline on a one shot wth) and loosely done with 23,000+ words but in true me form, I have to go over each chapter again and _add_ so who knows what the final wc will be. I don’t have a posting schedule this time but I will post the last chapter on or before the Sep 30 deadline for the fest so it won’t be a long wait :) I just have a lot of family stuff upcoming so some updates might be back to back or there might be a long gap. Whatever it is, you’ll have a completed fic within the fortnight.


End file.
